


The Past is Present

by amy12



Category: The Good Wife (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-03
Updated: 2016-11-20
Packaged: 2018-08-19 10:02:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 29
Words: 40,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8201029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amy12/pseuds/amy12
Summary: Diane's ex needs her help when he is accused of a 40 year murder. A bunch of OCs, some flash backs and Kurt will show up in chapter 6.





	1. Chapter 1

"When was the last time you got laid?"

Diane tried not to choke on her salmon and just stared at Olivia for a moment. They had been best friends since college and today, like many times over the past several decades Diane was questioning why. "Do you have to be so crude?"

"That long huh?" Olivia laughed. "And that wasn't crude. If I wanted to be crude I'd ask who the last person to fu"

"I'm fine." Diane cut her off. "It hasn't been that long. What about you, are you dating anyone?"

Olivia lifted her left hand and wiggled her fingers. "I'm married." She laughed when Diane raised her brow. "Touche. But I actually like this one. I'm totally exclusive."

"Well fifth times the charm I suppose."

"What can I say, I like a wedding." Olivia shrugged. "We can't all leave men at the alter."

"I didn't leave him at the alter." Diane sighed, before a slow smile spread across her face. "I broke up with him three days before the wedding."

"Much classier." Olivia laughed sipping her wine.

"What made you bring that up? I haven't thought about Douglas in years."

"He's looking for a condo. It seems his marriage is over and she kicked him out. His price range is impressive. You missed the boat on that one."

"I think I've done fine on my own." Diane said rolling her eyes. She looked at her watch and smirked. "I'm impressed you made it thirty-two minutes before bringing it up. That's so unlike you. Are you his agent?"

"No, but I saw him in the hallway. He looks good. He has all his hair. I got the dirt on him. Want to know more?" Olivia titled her head slightly. "If you say no, I'll keep asking about your sex life."

"You don't play fair."

"My best friend is a lawyer." Olivia shrugged. "So. He's a surgeon, and a respected one. I goggled him. He's won awards and shit. He's on wife number two, a nurse. She's about 12 years old. I have no idea why it didn't last. He has a son from his first marriage who is in law school. And the 12 year old popped out a daughter 8 months ago."

"Fascinating." Diane sighed.

"Do you want his number?"

"No!"

"Why not? It would be like a movie. Getting back together after all these years. He could be your soul mate. It would be so romantic."

"How much wine did you have before I got here? If you're not drunk you're insane." Diane laughed grabbing her purse. "You didn't even like him. Why would you want me to call him? Don't answer that." She sighed putting up her hand. "I have to get back to work."

"Are you happy with your townhouse? There is a three bedroom for sale in Highland Park."

"I'll pass."

"Okay." Olivia smiled. "But lunch is on me. We talked real estate, I can write it off."

Diane shook her head and laughed, "I'm not helping you if the IRS comes after you."

 

He was sitting in her office when she got back to the office.

"I'm sorry Miss Lockhart, he insisted on waiting." Maxie said when Diane froze outside her office. "He said you were friends and would want to see him."

"It's fine." Diane said forcing a smile for her assistant. She straightened her posture and entered her office. "Were your ears burning?"

"Hello Diane." Douglas said not bothering to turn to face her "Been awhile."

"Yes." She agreed taking a seat at her desk. "I was just at lunch with Olivia, she mentioned seeing you. And now you're here. What's going on?"

"I'm impressed you can still put up with Olivia. But you were always patient." He looked around the office and smiled. "Impressive. Your own firm. Looks like you got everything you wanted."

Diane shrugged her shoulders, but remained silent, waiting for him to mention why he was in her office.

"I'm happy for you. You always knew what you wanted out of life. I'm happy for you." He repeated. "Even though what you wanted wasn't me."

Diane shifted in her seat slightly. "What brings you to my office? I doubt you came to catch up."

"I would love to." Douglas smiled. "But no, I do have other motives. Ah! Motive. I need a lawyer."

"And why not me?"

"Well you're one of the best aren't you? You have quite the reputation in town."

Diane smiled slightly. "Since when do you believe everything you hear?"

"Oh, I try not to. I know from experience it's not always true."

"Why do you need a lawyer?"

"Well Miss Lockhart, it is still Miss right?" He asked, chuckling when she just raised her brow at him. "My soon to be ex-wife is threatening to accuse me of murder."

"Murder?" Diane asked not bothering to hide her surprise.

"Erik Thompson's"

 

Fall 1976

"What are you doing?" Olivia demanded bursting into Diane's room.

"Go away, I'm studying. I have an exam tomorrow. Find someone else to smoke with you."

Olivia grabbed Diane's book and tossed it on the floor. "Erik Thompson is dead. They think he was murdered."

"Dead? What do you mean?"

"I mean dead, no longer alive." She made a gun motion with her fingers. "Shot. Right in the heart." Olivia flopped onto Diane's bed. "I can't believe it. When he went missing I thought he was going to show up laughing about some week long party he had gone to."

"Dead?" Diane asked her eyes filling with tears. "Erik's dead? You're sure it was him?"

"I didn't see the body or anything, but yeah, it was him."

Diane tried to take a deep breath, but it felt like a giant anvil had been dropped on her chest. "Tell me what happened?"

"Well, from what I recall, Erik went to a party with you and your idiot boyfriend showed up all drunk and screamed "I'll kill you" in front of half the campus and now Erik is dead."

 

Present Day

"How does she even know about Erik?" Diane asked shifting in her chair. "Was she even alive when he died?"

Douglas smiled. "I see you've looked me up too."

"Olivia filled me in."

"No, she was not alive. But she did go to my forty year reunion with me. It was dreadful. Skip yours. There was a tribute video for everyone who died. Depressing. How's your heart? There was a lot of cardiac arrest in the slideshow. Do you have a regular checkups?"

"Jesus." Diane muttered.

"Fine." Douglas chuckled. "There was a tribute to Erik. People started to whisper, I got a lot of angry glances. I told her the story."

"What story did you tell her?"

"The true one. I didn't like him, we fought, he died, I didn't do it."

"So why is she accusing you of murder?"

Douglas leaned forward looking Diane in the eye, he smiled when she moved her head breaking their locked gaze. "Because she's a money hungry bitch. She'll ruin my career if people think I murdered someone and she knows it. Even if the police don't believe her and still call it a bad robbery I won't be able shake it off."

"Is it a coincidence Olivia saw you at her office and now you're in mine?"

"Well it's all connected to my divorce, but yes. The realtor was referred to me. I had no idea she worked there. I assumed she'd marry rich and spend her days at the mall, not working." He smiled when he saw Diane was trying not to laugh. "And I came here because I need a good lawyer to stop this before it happens. And you're good. And you were there. And despite all the choice words you had for me when you dumped me, you always knew I was innocent."

"Hmm." Diane nodded. "I can't be your lawyer." She picked up her phone and quickly called Will's extension. "Will you please come to my office when you have a moment." She asked when he picked up. "I might have a case for you."

"I'll be right there."

"My partner, Will Gardner will see you." Diane said hanging up the phone. "He'll be a better fit for this."

"Oh. So I read even that wrong?"

"Read what wrong?"

"That you thought I was innocent. Is that what it was, deep down you thought I was guilty?"

"No." Diane sighed. "I never thought you had anything to do with Erik's death. I think he was just at the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Hmm." Douglas nodded. "I don't know what is worse. Being dumped after being wrongly accused of murder or just because of my personality."

"It's not going to work." Diane smiled. "I'm not going to feel sorry for you. You and I both know we shouldn't have gotten married. One of us would have had to change and would have been miserable." She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "I can't take the case because I'm too connected to it. It wouldn't help you."

"Will you have dinner with me?"

"What?" Diane laughed waving Will in. "Of course not." She rolled her eyes. "Will Gardner, this is Dr. Douglas Bates. He needs your help."

"Nice to meet you." Douglas said shaving Will's hand. "I'm sorry she's pawning me off on you. I'm getting used to it."

"Sop it." Diane said shaking her head when Will looked at her. "When I was in law school someone on campus was murdered. Dr Bates' wife is divorcing him and threatening to go to the press saying he committed the murder."

"It's still an open case?" Will asked.

"No one was ever charged." Douglas said. "She has no evidence. But she doesn't care. I'm up for a very prestigious award. If I win, the grant money will help me save endless lives. If there is talk I am a murderer…"

Will nodded. "I get it."

"Thank you." Douglas said reaching for his jacket. "I need to get to the hospital. I'll be in touch."

"Okay." Will nodded. "Diane has you contact information?"

"She knows how to reach me."

"No I don't." Diane said, blushing slightly.

Douglas winked and put his card on her desk. "Good afternoon Miss Lockhart. I will see you later."

"What was that?" Will laughed as they watched Douglas walk away.

"Long story." Diane sighed.

"So you knew him in college? Did you date?"

"You could say that." Diane shrugged. She laughed when Will just stared at her. "I almost married him."


	2. Chapter 2

1977

"You look beautiful! Just stand up straight."

Diane glanced down at her mother than back at her reflection. The wedding gown was shockingly white. Tradition or not, white was not her colour. And there was so much fabric around her shoulders. "I look like a football player." She frowned. "It's so puffy. I'm so wide."

"What are you talking about? You look perfect. The dress was made specially for you, with all your preferences."

"When have I ever worn this much lace?" Diane asked staring at her reflection. "And it's so, white. These are your preferences. All of this is your preference."

"Okay." Her mother sighed adjusting the bottom of the gown. "You have jitters. I get it. Let it all out. Tell me all about how I'm again ruining your life."

Diane rolled her eyes. "You're not ruining my life."

"Oh Diane, you know how I feel about you rolling your eyes."

"Well don't worry, I'll be married to a doctor by the end of the week. He'll know what to do if they get stuck."

"I hope Douglas finds you funny."

Diane remained silent and looked back at her reflection. She had always enjoyed dressing up, but at this moment she had never been more uncomfortable. Her hair was six inches longer than she preferred it to be. Her mother insisting it be curled and piled on top of her head, unnecessarily adding to her height. There was lace everywhere, and so much fabric at her shoulders. And her lips, they were pink. Like candy. It was almost worse than the lace and puffy shoulders.

"I don't think the makeup is right." Diane said finally. "Maybe something darker, less pink. A red lip."

"It's your wedding day Diane. Why on Earth would you want to dress like a whore?"

 

 

"Nice hair." James laughed when Diane walked into her dorm room.

"Did you have a wedding thing?" Olivia asked coming out of her room . "Why didn't you tell me? I'm your maid of honor. I am suppose to be at these things."

"I didn't know about it either." Diane sighed sitting down on the couch beside her brother. She slowly started pulling the pins of her hair, making a small pile on the arm of the battered couch.

"It's because mother doesn't like you." James said smiling at Olivia.

Olivia looked at Diane to protest but she just shrugged. "I don't think she likes me either." Diane said still trying to free her hair.

"Of course she does." James said patting his sister's knee. "You're letting her dress you up like a Princess and play wedding. She's been dreaming about this for twenty-four years. She's in Heaven. You even got the right groom. Dr. Perfect Teeth. You are the favourite Lockhart Twin right now."

"Lucky me."

"Don't worry, you'll disappoint her when you continue with law school instead of having a gaggle of children right away. Then I can sweep in with a respectable bride and regain my top spot. At least till she has to tell people I'm a literature teacher. She always looks like she's about to have a stroke when she says literature."

"What are you even doing here?" Diane asked shaking out her hair, her honey locks falling well past her shoulders.

"I was out of beer. And I knew olive over there would have some."

"I want one." Diane said getting up. "Or maybe the whole case,"

"You're being really dramatic right now. "Olivia laughed. "That's my job, you're suppose to be the responsible one."

"I know." Diane said reentering the room with a beer in her hand. "I'm Diane Lockhart. I'm suppose to go to law school, marry a doctor, have 2-4 children, one son one daughter, become a Senator, be a doctor's wife. It's a hard plan to follow."

"Ignore the plan." James said. "You're going to disappoint one of them. Might as well be happy while you're doing it."

"Well I'm already in law school." Diane said sipping her beer. "And I have to get married."

"Have to get married?" Olivia laughed. "Don't you mean you want to get married?"

"Sure."

"Sure?" James said leaning forward at the sound of doubt in his sister's voice. He had never been the biggest supporter of this wedding. He couldn't say he would be upset if Diane did no go through with it. "That's not very convincing. Do you not want to marry Dr. Perfect Teeth?"

"The wedding is this weekend."

"Right." James nodded. "You should totally marry the most boring man in the world so you don't inconvenience people's weekend plans."

"He's not boring." Diane said, glaring at Olivia when she snorted.

"He spent an hour explaining the rules of Extra Monopoly to me." James sighed. "It should have taken two minutes, you add an extra game board. So you make Monopoly even longer and more dull."

"I hate that game." Diane laughed. "But he's a nice guy. He's funny. He's going to be a good doctor. He'll be a really great dad."

"I've known you our entire life. I don't recall a time you have wanted kids."

"I like kids."

"Enough to stay home from work to take care of them?" James pressed. "Or is Dougie okay with a nanny raising your precious children?"

"It will be different when they are my own kids." Diane sighed, for some reason she found herself sweating. She looked over at Olivia for help.

"Don't except me to get you out if this." Olivia said holding up her hands. "But if you need help getting out of town on Saturday, I'm your girl."

"Close your eyes." James said. He narrowed his gaze at Diane until she sighed and closed her eyes. "Picture it, you're in a fancy house, you're getting all dressed up for a fancy party for some made up charity. Your children wake up from a bad dream crying. But they don't want you, they want their nanny. Guests have started to arrive, so you have to make it seems like you're maternal."

Diane opened her eyes. "God, I'm Mom."

James laughed. "More or less."

Diane sighed and glanced down, her eyes locking on the scissors on the side table. They were part of some sewing project Olivia had been working on, but they were sharp. They would work. Before she could second guess herself, Diane grabbed the scissors and cut off a hunk of her hair.

"What the hell are you doing?" Olivia asked jumping up.

"I want short hair."

"Give me those." Olivia said grabbing the scissors. "You'll never get it even in the back."

 

 

"What happened to you hair?" Douglas asked opening his door.

"I cut it." Diane said walking past him. She looked around the apartment she would be living in full time after Saturday. It was neat. Everything had it's place and it's purpose. Then there was her dorm, where Olivia always had an art project on the go to make their cluttered room more festive. She stopped in the living room and looked at Douglas. "I want to be a lawyer."

"Um, okay?"

"And I don't really like children. I means they're okay most of the time. They're sticky though. All the time. They have stuff on their face. It's weird. And they whine. A lot."

"Sit down" Douglas sighed.

"No. I'm fine. I don't like lace. And I like red lipstick. And I like the law. I really like the law. I want to be a lawyer."

"You already said that."

"Yeah." Diane nodded. She ran her hand through her hair, smiling at the new shortness of it. "I don't want to be at home with crying sticky children while you're working late at the hospital saving lives and doing what you love. I want to be working late too. I don't care about charity teas, or keeping the maid in line. I don't want to be my mother."

"You want to be your father?"

She shook her head and smiled slightly. "I want to be Diane Lockhart."

"Where is all this coming from?" Douglas asked stepping towards her. He frowned when she took a step back. "Are you just getting nervous?"

She was nervous she was heading towards a life that would make her miserable. But that seemed cruel to say out loud. "I saw myself today and there was just so much lace."

"Would you stop talking about lace." Douglas said, trying not to raise his voice.

"I hate lace! That's what I am trying to say." She walked towards the couch running her fingers along the top. It was expensive, but not very comfortable. And white. Just like her wedding dress Diane thought chuckling slightly under her breath.

"You're not making any sense."

Diane moved over to the fireplace. There were expensive fire pokers proudly displayed. There were just like new. Diane doubted Douglas even knew how to light his own fire. She turned and looked at him, tilting her head slightly. "Do you even like me?"

"What? Of course I do. I love you."

"No." Diane said shaking her head. "Not love. Like. Why on Earth would you like me? You don't like my brother or my best friend. We don't like the same music. I drink more than you like. I am bossy. What do we have in common? You like football and skiing."

"You like skiing." He cut her off. "We went last winter."

"I liked after skiing, when we drank by the fire. But when have I ever expressed an interest in physical activity?" She rolled her eyes when he smirked at her. "That's not what I meant. I'm being serious."

"Right." Douglas nodded. "You seriously like the law and hate lace."

"Yes. You're mocking me, but yes."

"So?"

"So." Diane nodded. "Good question. What do we do?"

"I honestly have no idea what is going on."

Diane stepped closer to him. "Do you want me to be your wife or do you want someone that will wear lace?"

"I don't give a fuck what you wear." Douglas said no longer stopping his voice from raising.

"It's a damn metaphor." Diane sighed. "I'm going to be a lawyer. I'm not going to be a doctor's wife that throws parties for some fundraiser no one can remember and raises a house full of children." She exhaled slowly. "I think we should postpone the wedding."

"Postpone the wedding?" Douglas sighed. "Will you please take a seat and calm down so we can have a rational conversation."

"I am calm. And we need to have a rational conversation. That's why we should postpone the wedding. We need a plan."

"We have a plan. We're getting married on Saturday."

"And then what?"

"And then we'll be be married."

Diane smiled slightly, trying not to laugh. "Yep. Good plan."

"What do you want me to say Diane? I want to marry you. I want to have a life with you. I want to have sticky whiny children with you. If you want to work in a law office, fine ."

"Work in a law office?"

"At first, yeah."

"Hmmm." Diane nodded. "And then fall in line and put on the lace."

"Would you stop talking about lace!"

"I think we should wait."

"No." Douglas said shaking his head. "No. I don't want to wait. If we don't get married on Saturday, we don't get married."

Diane stared at him for a moment. Then glanced back at the white uncomfortable couch, the unused fireplace, the three boxes of Monopoly under the tab and slowly nodded. "Okay."

"Okay." Douglas sighed. "And don't worry, you're nervous know, but by Saturday."

"No." Diane said slipping the ring off her left hand.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm sorry. Really." She said softly. She stepped towards him and placed the ring in his hand. She smiled slightly. "It's for the best. You'll see." She kissed him on the cheek, her hand still on his. "Goodbye."


	3. Chapter 3

"So are you going to tell me the story?" Will asked following Diane down the hallway.

"Of course I'm not."

"Why drag it out. You're going to tell me eventually." Will sighed. Diane smiled and shook her head as she pressed for the elevator. "I'll just get his side of the story. I'm his lawyer, he'll need to tell me"

"Get Rhiannon to help you." Diane said as the elevator opened.

"Why? So she'll fill you in on all the gossip?"

Diane just smiled as the elevator doors shut.

 

"What are you doing here?" Olivia asked as Diane walked into her office. She pushed a straw lock of her black hair behind her ear and frowned. She watched as her best friend paced her office. Running her hand along the leather chair in the corner, but not sitting. "What's wrong? You look like you saw a ghost."

"I might as well have." Diane sighed, finally sitting down.

"You're seriously not planning to just sit there in the corner being all dramatic and sullen and not tell me what's going on, do you?"

"I've never been sullen in my life." Diane said rolling her eyes. "Douglas Bates was in my office when I got back to work."

"Really? Why do you look so freaked out?" Olivia asked. She gasped as a slow smile spread across her face. "You slept with him?"

"Yes. Right there in my glass office. For everyone to see" Diane sighed. "His ex wife, or wife, whatever she is, is threatening to go public saying he killed Erik Thompson. He wanted me to be his lawyer."

"Why would she do that? Does she have evidence? Do you think he did it after all? Are you taking the case? Man, Erik. Poor guy."

"Of course he didn't do it." Diane said leaning back in the chair. She closed her eyes, exhaling slowly. "His ex is just bitter and wants to destroy his image."

"Why?"

"What do you mean?" Diane asked opening her eyes.

"I mean, why would she do that? She got her baby, she'll get child support, she can fight for alimony. Unless she has serious Daddy issues, I assume that was always the end game. Why be so mean?"

"You were mean to Christopher."

"Ah! But he deserved it. The bastard cheated on me."

"You cheated on him."

"Yes, but he didn't know that. All I'm saying is, there must be some reason she would accuse him of murder or all things."

Diane sighed and nodded slowly. "I have to get to court."

 

"We need to find out why Douglas' wife is saying he murdered Erik." Diane said walking into Will's office. "What is her end game, what does she want. Why not settle for custody and alimony?"

Will nodded. "Rhiannon just said the same thing."

"I'm going to go talk to her." Rhiannon smiled. "Call her bluff. Maybe it's an idle threat. She wants something."

"Okay good." Diane nodded.

Rhiannon shot a look to Will, who just shrugged. She smiled and grabbed her notebook, following Diane out to the hallway. "So?"

"I don't want to talk to about it."

"But you totally do." Rhiannon said following Diane into her office, which earned her an eye roll from her boss. "The man you almost married comes back into your life all these years later. Addressing a scandal you had tried to forget. This is exactly the thing someone wants to talk about."

Diane stared at the young lawyer sitting across from her and sighed. Rhiannon was staring back at her with a wide grin on her face waiting for details. She had worked at Lockhart/Gardner for the past two years. She had secured the job by offering to take a pay cut on the condition she could work closely with Diane. Over the years they had developed a bizarre, but close relationship. Rhiannon was a good lawyer and a fast learner. And Diane couldn't argue that it was hard not to like someone who idolised her. Rhiannon's mother had died when she was fifteen. And while Dane harboured no romantic notions regarding their relationship, she hoped if she had had a daughter she would be like Rhiannon.

"Didn't you tell Will to have me work on this because you knew I have big mouth and will tell you all the gossip?" Rhiannon said finally breaking the staring contest. "Two way street. I need dirt too."

"I was engaged to marry him. But I broke it off."

"I already know that part." Rhiannon said rolling her eyes. "Why'd you break it off?"

"Because I didn't want to marry him. There is no juicy story. He asked me to marry him. I was young, it seemed like a good idea so I said yes. But the closer it got to the wedding the more I realised if I married him I would not have the life I wanted. The life I ended up having. I wouldn't have this firm if I had married him."

Rhiannon nodded." That's a boring reason. But I guess if it was more dramatic you wouldn't be offering to help him now."

"I'm sorry it's not more dramatic." Diane smiled.

"There is still hope." Rhiannon smiled opening her notebook. "So, Erik Thompson went to a party, fought with Dr. Bates and was missing for three days before he was found in the woods by your off campus housing?"

"Yes."

"And before he went missing, you slept with him?"

Diane started to protest, but Rhiannon shook her head, a small smile creeping across her lips. Diane sighed. "Yes."

"See, I told you there was still hope for drama. That's why people thought Dr Bates had something to do with the murder right? A big tragic love triangle."

"Yes. But that's not what happened."

"Right. The police ended up going with robbery gone bad." Rhiannon said looking at her notebook. She frowned slightly and looked back at Diane. "You buy that?"

"Buy that? Of course I do."

"Yeah." Rhiannon shrugged. "Makes sense. I would go with robber too, if the alternative was two guys fighting over me and one of them ending up dead."


	4. Chapter 4

"Hello?"

Rhiannon stepped back slightly when the door opened. The long legs, perfect hair and posture. Douglas clearly had a type. "Lauren Bates?"

"Yes." the blonde nodded. "But I'm not interested."

"Oh! I'm not selling anything." Rhiannon said looking down at her outfit with a frown. She was wearing a black Ralph Lauren pant suit. It was expensive. She shook her head slightly. "I'm Rhiannon McVeigh. I'm a lawyer. I work for your husband."

"Come in." Lauren said moving from the doorway. "Do you have stuff for me to sign?"

"No. I'm not here about the divorce. I'm here about Erik Thompson."

"Oh. Well then I think you should talk to my lawyer."

"I will. But I wanted to talk to you first. Why are you claiming Dr. Bates killed Mr Thompson."

"Because he did." Lauren shrugged. "He told me."

"He told you?"

"Yeah. He was drunk and crying. It was a mess. He said he didn't like the guy because he kept hitting on his girlfriend and he wouldn't leave her alone. They had a fight one night and Doug accidentally killed him."

"HmmMmm." Rhiannon nodded. "And when did he tell you this?"

"At this reunion. I don't know the exact date. About 10 months ago. I was almost due."

"Ten months ago. And I'm sorry, when did you and Dr. Bates separate?"

"Three months ago. But don't read to much into that. I didn't believe him at first. I didn't want to believe him. He was drunk, but I couldn't shake it." She tilted her head and looked at Rhiannon. "Do you have kids?"

"No."

"I don't want my daughter around a murderer. I won't let it happen." Lauren sighed and brushed her hair behind her ear. "If you have more questions, please call my lawyer."

"Okay. But before I leave do you have a deal you'd like me to present my client?"

"What?"

"Well you haven't told anyone about this conversation have you? Would you like to blackmail Dr. Bates?"

"Please leave."

 

 

"She seemed to really believe he did it." Rhiannon said. "She just wants her daughter away from him."

"Okay." Will said leaning back in his chair. "Our best bet is to prove the cops were right. This was a robbery gone bad."

"Do you want me to get a time machine and go interview witnesses?"

"Yes." Will said. "That would be great. But until you find one, get Kalinda to help you dig up everything you can. The more we have the better we can argue defamation."

"Okay." Rhiannon nodded. "Just a quick question, have you ever gotten really drunk and confessed to murder?"

"No." Will sighed.

"Yeah, me either."

 

 

"Hello."

Diane looked up from her computer and smiled. "Hello."

"I'm suppose to meet with your investigator." Douglas said entering the office. "Go over what I remember from when Erik died."

"Will mentioned you'd be stopping by. Do you want me to go find Kalinda?"

"No, I would like you to have dinner with me."

"Dinner?"

"Yes. I know it's been a long time, but I assumed you still ate."

"Yes, I do." Diane smiled. "I have plans." She was lying. She was still trying to reconcile her feelings of seeing Douglas again after all this time. He looked the same as he had years ago, his hair was greyer and there were more lines under his eyes. That was expected, it had been forty years. But the high cheek bones, strong jaw and pose was all still there.

"So you only eat once a week?"

Diane resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "I'll get back to you."

"Not a no." Douglas smiled. "It's weird, isn't it? ."

"Just a little." Diane nodded.

"I seem to remember you being chattier."

"Are you trying to bait me?" Diane smiled. "It won't work."

"I'll just have to try harder." Douglas said standing up. "You couldn't have changed that much."

 

 

"Did you own a gun?" Kalinda asked not looking up from her notes.

"No. I've never owned a gun."

"Ever shot one?" Kalinda asked looking up. Studying his face briefly.

"Once. At a shooting range. Years ago. I didn't like it."

Kalinda nodded and looked back down at her notes. "Did you not go to a lot of parties?"

"What?"

"The night Thompson died, it was a Saturday. But you told the police you were at the library. Is that normal? Were you not into parties?"

"I must have had a paper due or an exam. I don't remember. I was almost done med school. I spent a lot of time at the library. Missed some parties."

"Ok." Kalinda said writing in her notebook. She nodded. "Thank you."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

"Ok." Douglas sighed. "So do you like working for Diane?"

"Sure." Kalinda smirked. "But we're not going to have this conversation though." She closed her notebook. "I'll let you known when I have more questions."

 

"Kalinda is interesting."

"You don't know the half of it." Diane smiled.

"Ahem." Rhiannon coughed. Subtly was never one of her finer points. But the man, who she assumed was her new client had walked right past her to speak to Diane. And now, based on the look on his face he was planning on flirting. She would just leave them alone, but they were standing right by the elevators and she was waiting for someone.

Diane rolled her eyes. "This is Rhiannon McVeigh. She's working with Will on your case. This is Dr. Bates."

"Call me Douglas" He said holding out his hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you." Rhiannon smiled shaking his hand. Douglas smiled at Rhiannon his eyes widening slightly. "Oh, you want me to leave. Right. Sorry."

"You don't need to leave." Diane said.

"I was actually coming to see if James was here yet." Rhiannon said as the elevator opened. "Oh look, he's here."

"What are you doing here?" Diane asked as her brother stepped off the elevator.

"It's lovely to see you too." James smiled. He pointed at Rhiannon. "Protege asked me to come by. Needs my help on a big case." Rhiannon smiled and tilted her head towards Douglas.

"Hello James."

"Wow." James said. He looked back at Diane. "What's going on?'

"I'm yet again being accused of killing Erik Thompson. But Diane and Rihanna here are going to help me finally put this to rest."

"Rhiannon." She said. "Like the song."

"Excuse me?"

"My name. It's not Rihanna. It's Rhiannon. You know 'Rhiannon rings like a bell through the night.' Fleetwood Mac."

"Right. Sorry." Douglas nodded.

"It's okay." Rhiannon shrugged.

They groups stood silently in the foyer for a moment before James finally spoke. "Well now that we all have her named figured out, I think Protege has some questions for me."

"Protege?"

"Yeah. Miss McVeigh here is going to be the next Diane Lockhart, esquire." James said as Diane rolled her eyes. He held up two fingers and crossed them. "They're like this. You're in good hands."

"Ok. Why don't we go to my office before you start reciting my resume."

"See!" James laughed. "You even have the classic Lockhart eye roll down pat."

"Well it looks like you got everything you wanted after all." Douglas said smiling at Diane. "Big fancy law firm and a daughter, but without the mess of a baby. It's perfect."

Rhiannon cut her eyes at Douglas, but before she could say anything Diane shook her head. "Come on." James nudged her. "Let's go to your office."


	5. Chapter 5

1976

"Crap!" Diane said sitting up. She ran her hand through her hair and quickly got out of bed. "I'm late. And it's your fault."

"Have to go see your other boyfriend?" Erik laughed rolling onto his side.

"I have class in fifteen minutes." Diane said puling on her dress. She quickly scanned the room grabbing her text book off the floor and throwing it in her bag. "Where are my shoes?"

"I don't know. At the door?"

"This." Diane sighed pointing to the bed." Is why I told you I shouldn't come over. I'm going to be late for class. I'm never late for class. I'm never late for anything. And it's the class Jake teaches, so he'll rat me out to my Dad."

"You didn't seem like you were having a bad time."

"Shut up." Diane laughed. "I have to go."

"Will I see you this weekend or are you going to be with the doctor?"

"Um, I don't know." Diane said rushing towards the front of the apartment in search of her shoes. "I'll call you. I have to go."

"I know, you're late." Erik called out from the bedroom. "Go."

 

Present Day

"I never thought I'd see him again." James sighed sitting down on the cushioned chair in Rhiannon's office. "I guess it's true, nothing stays in the past."

"I can't believe Diane was going to marry him." Rhiannon said leaning against her desk. "He seems so, dull. Like he irons his jeans and is obsessed with people using coasters. And what was with the daughter comment. He couldn't even get my name right." She sighed and moved around her desk to sit down. She frowned slightly as she twisted a curl around her index finger. "Diane must have really changed."

"Not that much." James said. "I always thought they were a weirdly matched couple."

"Do you think he's guilty?"

"Of murder? Nah. He has no sense of humor and didn't like to party. That 's why I didn't like him back then. I never thought he was a murderer. I wouldn't have let my sister even think of marrying him if I did."

"Hmm." Rhiannon nodded sitting up in her chair. She pulled up the time line she had started of Erik Thompson's disappearance and murder. "So from what I gather, the night before Erik died, there was a big bon fire and Douglas threatened to kill Erik. Were you there?"

"Yeah. Diane, Erik, Olivia, my girlfriend Sara and myself were all there together. And sure, Douglas showed up and started running his mouth." James shook his head slightly recalling the night. "If you were there and took bets on who you thought would be murdered, 2-1 it would be Douglas not Erik. And Diane would have been the one to kill him."

1976

"What are we even protesting?" Olivia asked rubbing her hands together. She looked around before taking a quick sip from her flask. The whiskey warming her as it moved down her throat.

"I think someone just set something on fire and a crowd came." Diane laughed. "It's pretty though." She was watching the flames as she rubbed her hands up and down her arms. The temperature had dropped about 5 degrees since the sun had set. She should have brought a coat.

"Here." Erik said draping his jacket over Diane's shoulders.

"Thanks." Diane smiled.

"Oh, I'm going to be sick." Olivia said. "Why did I come here with couples?"

"Oh, we're not a couple." Erik said winking at Diane. "What did you call it? We have fun." He laughed when she scowled at him. "Don't make that face. You're the one who said it"

"I need to start having fun." Olivia sighed.

"Well give me your number pretty lady."

"Hey!" Diane said swatting Erik on the arm.

"What's going on here?" They all turned towards the voice and saw Douglas standing a few feet away glaring at the small group.

"Hey man." Erik said holding up his hands. "We're just hanging out by the fire. Just having a good time. Come on over."

"I don't think Diane wants you so close to her." Douglas said moving to step in front of Diane. His gaze never leaving Erik. He stumbled slightly, but regained his compose quickly.

"It's fine." Diane sighed. "We all came together."

"I saw you hit him." Douglas said, slurring his words slightly.

"I was joking. It's fine. Maybe you should go." She touched his arm and lowered her voice slightly. "Have you been drinking?"

"Like you keep saying, it's fine." Douglas said pushing away Diane's hand. James quickly stepped in front of her. Smiling gently at Douglas.

"Hey man. Why don't we go back to residence. Sleep this off. We'll all have a good laugh tomorrow while we nurse our hang out overs." James continued to smile. "Come on. I'll walk back with you."

"I'm not drunk." Douglas insisted stepping back from James. "I just don't like being embarrassed."

"Me either." Diane said. "Yet here you are."

"I won't allow you to around him."

"Allow me?" Diane laughed. James looked back at her and shook his head. He knew it was a useless effort. But Diane arguing with Douglas was not going to make it easier to get him to leave. But he also knew Douglas acting as though he had a say in anything Diane did was not going to go over quietly with his sister.

"Hey man, we're just trying to have a fun night." Erik said. "There is a fire. Big group of people just having a good time. No fowl."

"Get away from me." Douglas said shoving Erik in the chest. Erik had at least fifty pound on him, so he didn't move much. The shove was more symbolic. "Get out of my face and stay the hell away from Diane or I'll kill you, you asshole."

"Excuse me?" Diane yelled.

"Hey, let's go home." Olivia said grabbing Dane's hand. Diane quickly shook her hand free. Olivia sighed. Nothing good was going to happen if they didn't leave. "Come on."

"No." Diane said shaking her head. "We came here to have fun. Let's have fun. All of us. Except you." She said glaring at Douglas. "Last time I checked, I didn't need to get permission to spend time with people."

"I get it." Douglas sighed. "You have to show everyone you're the big open minded liberal. You love everyone. And your nanny is black, and you love her, but that doesn't mean you need"

"Okay." James said putting his hand up. "Let's go walk it off."

"No." Diane said. "Let him finish, what were you going to say?" She moved her arm toward the crowd that had formed around them. "Everyone is listening."

"Let it go Diane." Erik said. "Please. Let your brother walk him home. He's drunk."

"I don't need you to defend me."

"No man, I'm not." Erik said shaking his head. "You need a nice sleep. Some coffee. Sober up. Not the time or place man. I don't want to fight."

"Come on." Olivia said wrapping her arm around Diane. "Let's go."

"Fine." Diane sighed. She looked over at Douglas and shook her head slightly. "I never want to see you again." She looked him straight in the eyes. "You disgust me."

 

Present Day

"Huh." Rhiannon sighed. "So after all that Diane still agreed to marry him?"

"Yeah." James shrugged. "It was a while later, but yes. He was drunk, he ran his mouth. He apologised later. I don't think he's really racist. I think he just wanted to piss off Diane. And it worked."

Rhiannon bit her lip and stared at her computer monitor glancing at her notes so far. "I don't know. It's my experience when people are drunk they say things they really think, but know to filter when they're sober. Douglas is the opposite of that?"

"What, you think he's some secret racist/murderer?"

"I don't know. Maybe." Rhiannon shrugged. "I just met the guy."

"I never really liked him. If I'm being honest I was happy Diane never married him. But a murderer? No. I don't buy it."

"Okay. Good. That will make my job easier. He seems, I don't know, off. I mean he got dumped by Diane, his first wife left him and now number two is accusing him of murder. There has to be something off about him."

"Olivia is on husband five."

"And there is definitely something off about her." Rhiannon laughed.

"What about Diane and me? We've never been married at all"

"Fine. Whatever. Being repeatedly dumped doesn't mean you have a huge character flaw. Happy?"

"Hey." Diane said leaning against the door frame of Rhiannon's office. "I hope he's not filling your head with horrible lies about me."

"Not yet." James winked. "So far just the horrible truth."

"I'll need to edit your notes." Diane laughed. "Douglas wanted to know if you'd like to have supper tonight. Catch up."

"You know that sounds wonderful" James nodded. "But, I um, I already made plans for us to have supper with Protege. And you know how she gets when you cancel plans on her."

"Oh." Diane smiled. "Okay. Another time. Where are we going?"

"My house." Rhiannon said. "My Dad will be in town."

"He won't mind that we're there?"

"No. He's pretty chill."

"Okay." Diane nodded. "I'll bring the wine. I'm looking forward to meeting your father."

"Thanks for playing along." James said as Diane disappeared down the hallway. "I needed a quick out. I didn't want to spend the night hearing about all the lives he has saved."

"No problem." Rhiannon smiled holding out her hand. "Give me your credit card. You're paying for dinner."


	6. Chapter 6

"It's nice to finally meet the famous Diane Lockhart." Kurt said with a smile. "I've heard all about you."

"God." Rhiannon sighed dramatically flopping down on her couch. "Do you have any baby pictures to show her while you're at it?"

"Let me see." Kurt said reaching for his wallet.

"Do it and I'll put you in a home."

Diane leaned back and watched the Father/daughter bicker back and forth. It was nice to watch. As loud and and in your face as Rhiannon could be, her father was much more laid back and soft spoken. "It's nice to meet you too." Diane smiled. "Although, I'm sure I've been seriously over-hyped."

"Oh, I don't know about that." Kurt smiled back.

Rhiannon raised her brow at her father, but before she could question him there was a knock at the door. "Um, I'll get it." She said standing up glancing down at her father with a frown.

James smiled when Rhiannon opened the door and held up two large bags. "Food delivery."

"Thanks." Rhiannon said grabbing the bags. She gestured towards the living room. "That's my Dad, Kurt. Dad, this is Diane's brother James."

"Nice to meet you." Kurt nodded.

"Likewise." James smiled as Rhiannon disappeared into the kitchen. He moved into the living room and took a seat next to his sister. "So, you're the big ballistics expert?"

"I don't know about expert."

"Seems you get the Rhiannon hype too." Diane smiled. "She talks about you all the time."

"I'm sure she talks about me a lot too." James nodded. "What's the name for the brother of your mentor?"

"Oddly enough, I don't think there is a name for that." Rhiannon said re-entering the room with a glass of wine for James. She sat down on the arm of her couch. "Dad is going to take a look at the old files and see if he can get any information on the gun that shot Erik. Maybe we'll luck out and it will have been used in another robbery. Or we'll have bad luck and he'll think Douglas is guilty." She shrugged and nodded her head towards Kurt. "Morals."

"What?" Diane asked.

"Unlike my daughter, I won't assist on a case if I find the client is guilty."

"Really, you would just quit a case if you find the client is guilty. Even after doing all the work?"

Kurt shrugged. "Yeah."

"When I said I wanted to me a lawyer he really hoped I'd be more like Atticus Finch." Rhiannon said standing up. "Such a disappointment."

"I taught Harper Lee and Capote last semester." James said as Diane furrowed her brow and shook her head at her brother. "What?"

"I'm just not held to the same rules lawyers are."

"It's very." Diane paused. "Noble."

"Yeah." Kurt smirked. "That's me."

 

"I don't think either of them knew I was even out there." James said joining Rhiannon in the kitchen. "Or at dinner."

"Did Diane just giggle?" Rhiannon asked looking back at the living room. She frowned slightly. "I didn't know she knew how to do that."

"They were debating immigration reform when I left."

Rhiannon bit her lip as she watched Diane lean forward and touch her Dad's knee as she laughed. "She's totally going to sleep with my Dad."

"I wouldn't say totally."

"Thanks." Rhiannon sighed. She picked up her glass and finished her wine in one sip. She pushed a ringlet behind her ear. "Oh well. I was running out things to talk to my therapist about. This should give me a few weeks of material."

 

Kurt looked over at Rhiannon asleep on the couch next to him and smirked. "Somethings never change. She's never been able to stay up on a Friday. A whole week of waking up before noon finally takes its toll on her and knocks her out." He shook his head. "That probably falls into the embarrassing Dad story category."

"I won't tell her." Diane smiled.

"Thank you." Kurt nodded. "I managed to get through the evening with only three eye rolls. A personal record."

"I should go." Diane said standing up. "It was really nice to meet you. I guess I'll, I mean, well, I'll see you around."

"It was nice meeting you too." Kurt smiled. He glanced down as Diane's wine glass. "Do you need a ride?"

"Oh. No. I can take a cab."

"Nonsense. Let me give you a ride. I'm not going to just hang out here and watch my daughter sleep."

"Um." Diane said biting her lip slightly before nodding. "Okay, thank you."

 

"I used to live down there." Kurt said pointing. "When Rhiannon was young. Once it was just the two of us we moved about an hour out. I've never really liked the city."

"No." Diane said shaking her head. "Of course you don't."

Kurt smiled slightly. "Are you always this sarcastic with people you've just met?"

"No. Not at all. I'm sorry."

"No. Don't be." Kurt said turning the corner. "I was just wondering if this was normal treatment."

Unsure how to reply Diane smiled but remained silent as Kurt turned onto her street. "It's the one after the big Oak tree." She said pointing. She fidgeted slightly in her seat. Was it implied that he could come in with her? He seemed like too much of a gentleman to just invite himself in, she would probably have to ask him in. When he pulled up to the curb and stopped the car, not even pulling into her driveway, Diane tried not to frown. It looked as though he had made the decision for the both of them.

"Looks like you have company."

"What?" Diane asked. She looked towards her townhouse and realized why Kurt had stopped on the road. A white BMW was in her driveway. She looked past the car and realized Douglas was sitting on her front steps. "Dear lord."

"Do you need me to get rid of him."

Diane smiled at his concern. "No, it's okay. I can handle it." She reached for her purse. "Thank you for the ride."

"No problem. I'm sure I'll see you around."

Diane glanced at her front steps and sighed. "Yeah."

"Goodnight Diane."

"Goodnight." She smiled as she got out of the truck. She took a deep breathe and slowly started walking up her driveway. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see you."

"I told you, I had plans." Diane said running her hand through her hair. "Not to mention neighbours. How long have you been out here?"

"Ten minutes, if that." Douglas shrugged. "I was going to leave just as you and your friend pulled up."

"Hmm." Diane nodded. "How did you know where I live?"

"I know how to use the internet. You gave me your phone number. I did a reverse search."

"It's pretty late."

"You don't need to worry Diane. I'm not stalking you. I was leaving the hospital, thought I'd see if you were home. Have a night cap. You loose touch with a lot of your old friends when you marry someone half your age. I can only spend so much time at the hospital avoiding my damn hotel room."

"Okay." Diane sighed. "I will have dinner with you. But only if you get off my steps and let me get in my house."

"Deal." Douglas said standing up. "Tomorrow. I'm staying at the Westin. 7:30?"

"Sure. Goodnight Douglas."


	7. Chapter 7

"So you pull up and he's just sitting on your steps." Olivia asked parking her car. She frowned when Diane nodded. "That's a nice way to ditch the ballistic guy."

"It's not like I invited him." Diane sighed. "But maybe it's for the best." She took off her seat belt and leaned back in the seat. "Kurt is Rhiannon's father. Nothing should happen there."

"Hmmm." Olivia nodded. "On one side you have a guy who made you laugh. Lives out of town so he won't be around to constantly annoy you. Is a gentleman. Has a daughter who already likes you. Has a dead wife, so she can't nag him." She held up her right hand. "On the other hand, we have your ex fiance, who you broke up with for a reason, who sits on your porch in the middle of the night. Who has an ex wife accusing him of murder." She shook her head. "Tough call."

"You don't even know Kurt. I don't even know him. And it wasn't that long ago you were trying to give me Douglas' number."

"That was when I thought he was just a rich guy looking for a condo. I didn't know he was a borderline stalker."

"He said he wasn't stalking me."

Olivia let out a laugh. "When you have to actually tell someone you're not stalking them, you have a problem. I bet the ballistics guy would never need to tell you he wasn't stalking you."

"And what are you basing that on?"

"Just a hunch." Olivia said tilting her head studying Diane's face. "If Kurt had invited you for dinner would you have dragged me along with you?"

Diane pursed her lips slightly. "No." She sighed.

"And here we are, sitting in a parking lot to gear up for dinner with Dr. Stalker. And I'm tagging along because you're a big chicken."

"I'm not a chicken." Diane said running her hand along her skirt. "At least not because I think he's a stalker. What are you suppose to talk about with someone you haven't seen in almost forty years?"

"What you've been up to the last forty years." Olivia shrugged. "That should get you at least to dessert."

"He's going to want to talk about back then." Diane sighed. "Let's go."

"Oh. Olivia." Douglas said not hiding his disappointment. "You came too."

"Yeah. Nothing I love more than talking about college, while I eat steak." Olivia smiled. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Hi." Diane smiled at Douglas, nudging her best friend slightly. "I invited James too, but he had some school thing to do."

"Maybe next time." Douglas said with a forced smile. "Shall we?"

As the trio approached the restaurant, Kurt exited the building, his posture changing when he saw Diane.

"Hello Kurt." Diane smiled.

"Kurt?" Olivia said perking up. She glanced back at Diane nodding her approval. "I'm Olivia. The best friend. It's nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you. Your daughter is." She smirked. "A treat."

"Yeah." Kurt laughed. "Nice to meet you." He looked over at Douglas and held out his hand. "Kurt McVeigh."

"Dr. Bates." Douglas smiled, putting hiss arm around Diane, his hand resting on her hip. "We should really get to dinner."

"Of course." Kurt nodded, Douglas' hand not going unnoticed. "Don't let me hold you up."

"I'll meet you inside." Diane said smacking Douglas' hand.

"Come on." Olivia said looping her arm in Douglas' "Tell me how goes the condo search. Tiffany is a sweet girl, but she lacks that good eye."

"Kurt." Diane said sprinting slightly to catch up to him. "He's just an old, uh, friend."

Kurt smiled. "You don't need to explain anything to me."

"Well he was on my front steps last night, And now I'm here. With him. I'm not, I mean we're not. I made him leave. " Diane said wondering why she was suddenly incapable of speaking in complete sentences. "I'm not sure why he was on my steps last night. I mean, I can guess."

"Breakfast." Kurt said and she sighed, grateful he made her stop talking.

"What?"

"Have breakfast with me." Kurt said. He suddenly shook his head. "That sounds like a horrible pick up line. I'm going back to my place tomorrow. And you obviously already have dinner plans."

"Um. Okay. Yes." Diane smiled.

"Okay." Kurt nodded. "I'll pick you up at 10."

 

"Is everything okay?" Olivia asked as Diane said down next to her.

"Fine." Diane nodded. "I just had to talk to him about a case." She lied looking down at the wine in front of her with a frown. "You got red?"

"Told you so." Olivia grinned.

"Oh, you drink white now?"

"It's fine." Diane shrugged. "I drink both."

An awkward silence fell over the table as everyone looked at their menus. "So." Douglas said finally. "Are you still in touch with anyone from school?"

"Not really." Diane said sipping her wine. "Mostly just Olivia. And my brother obviously. What about you?"

"No, no. I moved to Seattle after I graduated. I lost touch with most people. Got married. Had a son. Got divorced. Got prompted and transferred back to Chicago about six years ago." He shrugged and smiled at Diane. "What about you?"

"Me?" Diane said taking a bigger sip of her wine. "I stayed in Chicago. Will and I started our firm about nine years ago."

"And you never got married. Did you come close again?"

"I'm on my fifth husband." Olivia interjected. "I really like him. I think he'll probably be my last one."

"Any kids?" Douglas asked, though his eyes never left Diane.

"Husband number three." Olivia winked. "And number two has a daughter, but she hated me."

 

1976

"I have never been so bored in my entire life." Olivia sighed. "You owe me."

"I do not." Diane laughed. "I've gone on a million dates with you. You owe me."

"But you have fun when you come out with me. I date interesting people. I'm bored. He doesn't like me. He only wants to talk to you, I'm just in the way. Twenty minutes tops. Then I'm leaving. Give me a signal if you want me to leave you here."

"What kind of signal?"

"I don't know." Olivia said tossing her hair over her shoulder. "Dessert. If you want me to leave you here get cheesecake. If you order chocolate cake we'll leave together."

"I'm sorry." Douglas said sitting down at the table. "I think that is the first time I've ever seen a line for the men's room. I don't know how you ladies do it." He picked up his menu. "Should we get dessert."

"Sure." Diane smiled looking at Olivia. "I'll have cheesecake."

"Good lord." Olivia said rolling her eyes as Diane shot her an angry look. "I mean, look at the time. I have so much work to do. I better get going. Can you drive Diane him?"

Douglas nodded. "Of course."

 

Present Day

"I'm stuffed." Olivia said pushing away her plate.

"Well you got the biggest steak on the menu." Diane laughed.

"Because I'm not paying." Olivia winked.

"Do you don't want dessert?" Douglas asked picking up a menu.

"Well, I didn't say that."

"Why don't we split some chocolate cake." Diane asked.

"Oh thank god." Olivia sighed leaning back in her chair. She caught the questioning look from Douglas and smiled. "I just mean she's so skinny. I hate when she skips dessert. Such a cliche when the curvy one gets cake."

"Oh." Douglas nodded. "Sure." He looked down at the menu. "They don't have chocolate cake. They have chocolate cheesecake though."

"No!" Olivia and Diane said in unison.

"We had a bad experience with cheesecake once." Diane explained with a slight smile.

"It's probably for the best." Olivia said. "I'm stuffed. I should go home and slip into a food coma."

"She's my ride ohm." Diane shrugged. "I should go too."

"I can drive you home." Douglas said. "Stay, have a drink."

"I have a meeting in the morning. And you're staying here. No point you leaving and coming back."

"Agreed." Olivia smiled standing up. She quickly grabbed her purse and coat. "It was just so lovely catching up." She said grabbing Diane's hand urging her away from the table. "Call me if Tiffany can't find you a place."


	8. Chapter 8

"I can't believe I pass this place daily and have never been here." Diane said sipping her coffee. "It's very charming."

"The owner used to play for the Bulls years ago. Rhiannon couldn't care less about the memorabilia. I assume you share the sentiment." Kurt said smirking slightly when Diane shrugged. "But the food makes up for the lack of sports interest. When she got to the age when it wasn't cool to hang out with your Dad, I could always scam some time with her by bringing her here."

"I'm sure it wasn't that hard. She talks very fondly of you. It's nice you are so close."

"It's not always easy." Kurt laughed. "She was born with an opinion on everything. Most of them different from mine."

"How does that work?" Diane asked sincerely. "My mother and I were not at all alike. We weren't very close. She got along much better with my brother."

"I don't know." Kurt shrugged. "Maybe it helps it's been just the two of us for so long. We argue, but if we don't find a middle ground we just move to a topic we agree one. She knows I love her even if we disagree."

"Hmm." Diane smiled. "It's nice" She repeated as Steve Nicks' voice started singing "Rhiannon" from his cell phone. "She must know we're talking about her."

"She programmed my phone when she gave it to me." Kurt smiled. "Insisted I was too young to be such an old man and not have one."

"That sounds like her." Diane laughed. "You can answer it, I don't mind."

"She'll just keep calling." Kurt shrugged picking up his phone. "Hey kiddo."

"Hey." Rhiannon said. "What are you doing? Want to go get breakfast in like half and hour? I just need to get dressed."

"I'm already at breakfast." Kurt said smiling at Diane. "I'm a grown up and have breakfast before noon." He added causing Diane to laugh. She bit her lip before whispering an apology.

"I'm an adult. I just like sleeping." Rhiannon said. "But enjoy your grown up breakfast. I'll call you later. Love ya."

"I love you too." Kurt said hanging up the phone. "Does she actually show up on time for work?"

"Yes." Diane laughed. "But we have a fancy coffee machine. I think it helps." She looked down when her phone buzzed.

_I always get the pancakes._   
_It's not on the menu, but if you_   
_ask nicely they'll put chocolate chips in them ;)_   
_She you tomorrow._

Diane shook her head slightly. "I think we've been busted."

"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day." Kurt shrugged. "We had to eat."

Diane grinned. "True."

 

 

 

"I have a few on going cases." Kurt said as he and Diane exited the restaurant. "But I'll get to your friend's case first thing."

"Thank you." Diane nodded. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "So what, you go home now and shoot a bunch of guns."

"It's a little more scientific than that. But yeah I'm going to go shoot  
some guns." Kurt smiled. "Want to come watch?"

"Watch?" Diane said blushing slightly. She bit the inside of her cheek slightly, wondering when the last time she blushed was. She realized he was waiting for an answer and she was just standing in the middle of the sidewalk blushing. "Sure." She said finally when she couldn't come up with a reason not to.

 

 

"If Illinois ever comes under attack I'm coming here." Diane said as she entered Kurt's workshop. "Or running as far away from it as I can. I'm not sure which would be safer."

"I wouldn't be very good at my job if I only had one or two guns." Kurt shrugged. "Have you ever shot one before?"

"Once." Diane said running her finger along the cool metal of a rifle on the wall. "I had a gun. For about a week." She looked back at Kurt. "Long story. I got rid of it though. It, um, it made me uncomfortable."

"You liked it?"

"Yes." Diane nodded, not asking how he knew that. "And I didn't like liking it."

"It's okay to like guns if you know about them and respect them."

"It's not okay for me to like guns." Diane smirked. "Do you know how many anti-gun legislations my father's name is on? No. I can't like guns. He would loose his mind if he say me shooting a gun."

"I hate rhubarb." Kurt said stepper closer to Diane. He smiled when her eyes just widened in response. "My mother used to bake strawberry/rhubarb pies every summer. People went nuts for them. She even won a blue ribbon once. And yet, I hate rhubarb."

"Point taken." She smiled. "But it's not really the same thing." He leaned closer to her and for a moment Diane thought he was going to kiss her. Instead he reached past her and grabbed a .22 off the wall behind her.

"Sure it is." Kurt said said placing the gun in her hand. "It's not loaded. You're fine." Moving behind her he placed his hands over hers, adjusting her grip. "Want some bullets so you can actually shoot it?"

"I don't want to waste them."

"I think I have a few to spare."Kurt smirked. "I tend to buy them in bulk."

"Yeah, I guess you would." Diane laughed. Before she could say anything else Kurt walked past her to a tall cabinet along the wall. Silently, he unlocked the door removing a small box before locking up the cabinet again. He placed the box beside her. Diane looked down and realized they were bullets.

"Hey. Your first lesson." Kurt said placing his hands on Diane's. "Especially if its load, don't stand haphazardly aiming your gun at people. It tends to freak them out. If you're distracted, put them gun down."

Diane nodded before looking down, his hand was still covering hers. She raised her gaze, smiling slightly when their eyes locked. "I'm distracted."

"Then you should put the gun down." Kurt said not breaking their eye lock. He took the gun from her hand and placed it gently on the table. He lowered his gaze to her lips, chuckling slightly to himself before leaning forward and kissing her. If Diane was surprised by the kiss she recovered quickly, returning the kiss. Her hand moving to his chest, the fabric of his shirt bunching between her fingers.

"We shouldn't do this." She whispered breathlessly, suddenly stepping back. She quickly adjusted her shirt and posture. It was a good kiss. Maybe great, if she was being honest. She wanted to keep going , but this was a mistake. It was best to stop now before things got complicated.

"She's a grown up." Kurt said. "I mean it's hard for me not to think she's still the little girl who need help tying her shoes and put training wheels on her bike. But she's 30 years old."

"And I am her boss." Diane said trying to ignore he had yet again read her mind. She couldn't tell if she liked it or found it annoying. She was usually so good at staying guarded , even with people who had known her for years. She barely knew Kurt.

"I don't think sexual harassment is transferable to fathers. But hey, you're the lawyer." Kurt said with a slight smile. "But you're right. It's complicated. She likes her job. I'm not going to interfere with that. And if you think this would interfere." His voice trailed off.

Diane bit down slightly on her lower lip as she stared at Kurt, before slowly nodding. She should leave. She would be able to think clearer if there was distance between them. The drive home would help clear her head. "I should go. I'm sorry."


	9. Chapter 9

"Hi." Rhiannon said slowly, a wide grin on her face.

"What are you doing here?" Diane asked looking at her watch. Even in her first months of working at Lockhart/Gardner, when people usually try to make a good impression, Rhiannon rarely arrived early opting instead to stay late, after most people had gone home.

"I work here." Rhiannon said pushing herself off the door frame and entering Diane's office. She sat down and crossed her legs, wide grin still across her face. "So, how was your weekend? In as few details as possible please."

"It was okay. How was yours?"

"Fine." Rhiannon said rolling her eyes. "You can give me a little more details."

"It didn't rain like they said it would. That was nice." Diane said taking off her glasses. She laughed slightly when Rhiannon just glared at her. "Whatever you're thinking happened this weekend, didn't."

"Hmmm." Rhiannon nodded. "But you had breakfast with my Dad. I heard you laughing when I was on the phone with him."

"Yes. I had breakfast with your father. I didn't have the pancakes though. I had a spinach omelette. It was really good."

"Great, start a food blog." Rhiannon sighed. "You just had breakfast?" She furrowed her brow when Diane nodded. "How?"

"What do you mean how?"

"I mean how did that happen? If nothing happened between leaving my place on Friday and breakfast on Sunday. Breakfast with a guy is typically preceded by sex."

"I had dinner at the hotel he was staying at and ran into him. We agreed to have breakfast the next day before he left the city. No scandalous story. Just breakfast. Nothing else will ever happen, don't worry."

"Why would I be worried?' Rhiannon asked sitting up. "And what do you mean nothing else will ever happen? Did you not like my Dad? What's wrong with him? He's delightful, I'll have you know. Is it the guns?" She shook her head. "It's the tea-party thing isn't it? I get it. He can really get going sometimes, but you just need to tell him to shut up and he'll reel it in. I do it all the time."

"Calm down." Diane sighed. "There is nothing wrong with your father."

"I know."

"I had a good time with him. We, well, I, just thought it would be best if nothing happened. It would be complicated. For you."

"For me?" Rhiannon said. She laughed as she shook her head. "Nope. Not going to work."

"What are you talking about now?"

"You can't use me as an excuse. My Mom's been gone for 16 years. I know he dates. I'm fine with it. I prefer it. It's depressing to think of him sitting alone out there with just his dog and guns. I like you. I like him. How would I be complicated by two people I like dating or whatevering?" She stood up. "See my Dad again or don't. It's up to you. But you can't use me as an excuse not to. If you don't want to see my Dad, you'll need to come up with something better."

 

"What are you doing here?"

Rhiannon looked up from her lap top and frowned at Douglas standing in the doorway. "Why do people keep asking me that? I work here."

"I meant here, in Diane's office. I wasn't expecting to see you in here."

"Sorry to disappoint. She's not here." Rhiannon shrugged. "I need her conference table."

"Where is she?"

"I don't know. She's my boss, oddly enough she doesn't report to me before leaving the office. Maxie would likely know. She can also take a message. I'm horrible at taking messages. I always write them down and loose them, or forgot about them for like a week."

"You don't like me to do you?"

"I don't know you." Rhiannon shrugged. "This is just how I talk everyone. Don't talk it personally. I am not the hand holder, it doesn't come off as genuine. I'm the sarcastic loud one."

"Explains why you and James get along so well." Douglas said pacing around the office, running his finger along the framed photo of Diane and Hillary. "I'm surprised Diane is okay with it. She was always so adamant her friends not sleep with her brother."

"What?" Rhiannon laughed looking up from her computer. "I'm not sleeping with James. He's the same age as my Dad!" Suddenly the image of Lauren Bates flashed in her mind. Douglas' wife was at least 35 years younger than him. She flashed him a guilty smile. "No offence. I just meant, uh, it doesn't matter, I'm not sleeping with James. When I first started here I worked on a case for him. Now we're friends."

"I'm sorry." Douglas said, his eyes still fixed on Diane's photos. "Do you know when Diane will be back?"

"Nope. I don't even know where she is." Rhiannon said pointing to the desk directly outside the office." Maxie."

"Will you tell her to call me?"

Rhiannon didn't look up from her lap top this time, instead just pointed into the hall again. "Maxie."

 

"Hi." Diane said slowly talking off her sunglasses.

"Hello." Kurt smiled leaning against the door frame. "What's up?"

"May I come in?"

"Yeah, or course." Kurt said moving out of the doorway. "Come in." He said as she walked past him. He closed the door and turned to again question her visit, but before he could speak her lips were pressed against his. Rather than fight it, he returned the kiss, his hands moving to her back, pulling her closer to him.

Diane bit her lip slightly as she pulled back, his hands keeping her close. "Hi." She repeated.

Kurt laughed slightly. "Hi." He ran his hand down her back, smiling when he felt her react. "I don't normally protest when beautiful women show up at my door to kiss me, but what's going on? You seemed pretty clear yesterday that this was not a good idea."

"Do women often show up at your door and kiss you?"

He shook his head. "This is a first. I like it though."

Diane smiled, exhaling slowly when she realized she hadn't answered his question. "I couldn't think if another excuse."

"What?"

"Rhiannon said I couldn't use her as an excuse not to see you. So if i didn't want to see you again I had to come up with different excuse. I couldn't think of another one, because I wanted to see you again."

Kurt nodded. "Okay."

"Okay?' Diane smirked. "She said." Before she could continue Kurt put his finger to her lips and shook his head. "What?"

"I don't really want to talk about my daughter right now."

"Right." Diane smiled.

 

Diane tried not to flinch as Kurt shot the Benelli at the target. Her bare legs dangling off the edge of the counter as she watched Kurt work. She bit her lip trying to stop herself from smiling. As much as she told herself she hated guns, she couldn't deny the way her stomach flipped when she watched Kurt handle the rifle

Or the way she felt when he smiled at her before entering his notes into his computer. "There is no reception in here." He said when he caught her checking her phone.

"I have three missed messages." Diane shrugged. "I guess people are wondering where I am. I'm playing hokey."

"You'll get reception through there." Kurt said pointing to the door on the back wall. "Go head."

"Sorry." Diane said easing herself off the counter. She walked through the door and looked at her phone watching as the bars increased. Just as she connected her phone rang. Sighing Diane answered, not looking at the call display. "Hello?"

"Where are you?"

"Um, what do you mean?" Diane asked feeling her cheeks redden. Blushing has become an unwanted habit lately. She would need to rectify that.

Rhiannon sighed loudly. "I mean what is you physical location at this exact moment. It's not Lockhart/Gardner. At least not boardroom B. I know because everyone else is here for the Van-Pen depo."

"That's not till 1."

"Yep. It's 1:07."

"What? No." Diane said glancing at her bare wrist. "Start without me. I'll be there as soon as I can. All my notes are on my desk. Maxie can show you."

"Um, okay." Rhiannon said. "Is everything okay?"

"Fine. I had an appointment, it ran longer than I realized." Diane said shaking her head when Kurt entered the room. "But you'll be fine without me."

"Okay. I've got this. I'll see you when I see you, I guess."

"Thank you." Diane said disconnecting the call. She looked up at Kurt and shook her head. "You just got me in trouble with your daughter. You had me so distracted I forgot i have a job. I should have been ready for a deposition twenty minutes ago. I've never been late for court in my life."

"I take that as a compliment."

"Shut up." Diane laughed. "I have a to go. Where are my clothes?"


	10. Chapter 10

"Why is it so hot in here?" Diane asked fanning herself with an empty file folder. "It's like a sauna."

"Yeah. I reported it to maintenance." Will shrugged. "They should be here within the hour." He sat down across from Diane and grinned. "So?"

"So?"

"You missed a deposition this afternoon. You've never missed a meeting the entire time I've known you. Where were you?"

"I was busy." Diane shrugged. "I had an appointment, I didn't realize I was so late. But Rhiannon can handle it on her own. It's fine."

"What kind of appointment, is everything okay? You're not sick, are you?"

"Who's sick?" Rhiannon asked walking into the office. She held up a folder. "Notes. I can type them up if you can't read my writing." She put the folder on the desk. "Are you sick? Is that why you were late? What's wrong?"

Diane rolled her eyes. "I'm fine. Relax. I'm not sick, I promise." She eased herself out of her blazer. "I'm over heating in here though."

"Well when you want to tell me what's going on I'll be in my office." Will shrugged as Rhiannon started to choke. "Are you okay?" He asked jumping up.

Rhiannon held her hand up as she continued to cough. "I'm okay." She managed to say as she exhaled slowly trying to catch her breath. "Woo." She shook her head. "I'm okay."

"Are you sure?"

"Yep." Rhiannon nodded. "Just, you know exhaled wrong. I'm fine."

"Okay," Will said looking over at Diane, who just shrugged. "Get a drink."

"Yep." Rhiannon said watching as Will walked back to his office. As soon as he was out of earshot she turned back towards Diane. "You're not my boss for the next ten minutes okay?"

"Um, sure?"

"This is a question I never thought I'd ever ask." Rhiannon sighed running her hand through her curls. "Is the reason you missed the deposition because you were with my father?" She held up her hand. "And before you answer, I only ask because you're wearing his shirt." She smiled slightly. "I gave it to him for his birthday." She rested her cheek on her palm. "And now it's his sex shirt."

"Dial it back please." Diane sighed.

"You had sex with my Dad." Rhiannon said shaking her head. "Right after you said never would. I give you the okay you rushed over to his place." She looked at Diane and her eyes widened. "Oh my god. Are you going to get married? Are you going to be my new mom?"

"Dear lord." Diane sighed. "Your ten minutes are up. I'm your boss again. Go back to work."

"Okay." Rhiannon laughed. "They better fix the heat before someone notices you're wearing a man's shirt. With a guns on the cuff to boot." She winked as Diane looked down at her wrists blushing slightly. "My backseat is covered with clothes if you need something to wear."

 

Trying not to think about her father's sex life, Rhiannon looked at the timeline on her computer of the events around Erik Thompson's death. She went through her files and re-read the police report.

1976

"They arrested Douglas." James said walking into Diane's apartment. "They pulled him right out of a seminar. Everyone thinks he killed Erik."

"What?" Diane said. "They can't possibly believe that."

"Are you kidding? People around here believe everything." Olivia said. "Remember when that girl said her Dad was in the CIA and everyone tried to get a meeting with Ford to fight for some cause. People are idiots, they'll believe anything you tell them."

"But the police? Did they arrest him or just bring him in for questioning?"

"I don't know. I wasn't there. Med students don't have a lot of overlapping classes in English Lit." James said. "I just heard the police came and grabbed him out of class. Everyone on campus is talking about it. I'm sure in an hour there will be two different rallies going on. 'Free Bates' on one site of the quad, and 'Fry Bates' on the other. You know this place."

"I should go to the police station." Diane sighed.

"Yeah." Olivia nodded. "He totally needs your help, a law student, over the gaggle of expensive lawyers Daddy Bates has hired."

"I didn't mean it like that."

"What do you even care?" Olivia asked. "You've been ignoring him all week."

"But I don't think he could kill anyone." She frowned and looked back at her brother. "Do you two?"

James looked over at Olivia who shrugged. "No." He sighed. "Not murder, not by shooting someone. Maybe some dorky evil science thing."

"Botched surgery." Olivia laughed.

"Boring someone to death."

"Dear lord." Diane sighed.

"What?" Olivia asked putting her hand on hip. "Until 5 minutes ago you would have joined me in making fun of Douglas. Just because you have some weird felon fetish doesn't mean I can't still joke around."

"I don't have a felon fetish." Diane sighed grabbing her purse. "And I'm sorry I'm not in the mood to joke about my friend's death."

 

"So you were in the library all night?" Detective Gale Evans asked. He looked down at his notes briefly before looking up at Douglas with a smile. Not to fall into the cliche of good cop/bad cop, but Evans always found being polite worked best when questioning people. Build a rapport, and just sit back and wait for people to slip.

"Yes." Douglas nodded. "I probably got home around 4am." He stretched his leg out slowly trying to stop it from shaking.

"Did anyone see you there?"

"I was alone. I like to study alone. And my grandparents were both asleep when I got home. But I'm sure someone saw me. Oh!" Douglas smiled. "Lou. I think that's his name. The security guard with the limp. He must have seen me."

"Lou, with the limp." Evans nodded. "Okay. And you stayed at the library the whole time, you never left? No break for food, maybe some fresh air?"

"There is a coffee shop next door. I went there, but not for long. I was learning about a new technique in by-pass surgery. A new way to find healthy veins in your legs. It's really fascinating."

"Right." Evans nodded. He looked across the table and just watched Douglas for a moment. Was this guy trying to distract him, or was he just a big science nerd who liked to ramble about medical techniques?

"Let's move on to the other night." Evans said finally. "Several people witnessed you arguing with the victim. Would you like to tell me about that night?"

"I was angry." Douglas sighed. "It was a an idle threat, just with unfortunate timing."

"Why were you so angry?"

Douglas smirked slightly. "A girl of course. I didn't like seeing him hanging around my girlfriend. I told him to stay away from her."

"Your girlfriend." Evans said scamming his notes. "Diane Lockhart?"

"Yes."

"Is she still your girlfriend?"

Douglas smiled. "Of course."

"Even though several people heard her tell you she never wanted see you again before leaving the party with the victim, not you?"

"Look." Douglas said exhaling slowly. "I had been drinking. I said somethings I didn't mean. I was angry. Diane was angry. We had an argument. We said things we didn't mean. We're not the only ones to have done that."

"That may be true Mr Bates." Evans said leaning back in his chair resting his hands on his stomach. "But unlike most people, you have the unfortunate circumstances of threatening a man who is now dead. And if this, Lou with a limp didn't see you at the library you have a pretty weak alibi."

"Are you charging me with murder?"

"No. But I've got to say Mr Bates, you are a person of interest in this case. I'd really appreciate it if you stayed in town."

"Finals are coming up. I'll be here."

Evans watched as Douglas walked out the interrogation room and stopped short when the tall blonde stood up and give him small wave. "Who is that?" He asked sitting down across from his partner. "The one waiting for Bates?"

"Diane Lockhart. Her dad's the lawyer. Came by to make sure Bates knew his rights. Seems she thinks she's a big fancy lawyer too."

"Huh. Guess he was telling the truth when he said they were still dating." Evans said running his hand through his thinning hair as he watched the coupe leave the prescient.

"You like him for this?"

"I don't know. He wouldn't be the first rich kid with a temper. But he was rambling away about heart surgery. Comes off as too big a nerd."

 

"So they called you a person of interest?" Diane asked following Douglas as he stepped out onto the side walk, slipping her sunglasses on. "But nothing about charging you?"

"I didn't do it." Douglas said stopping and turning to face Diane. "You know me Diane. I wouldn't hurt anyone. I want to dedicate my life to helping people. I was drunk and acted like an idiot. That's all."

"You were an idiot." Diane said looking at Douglas for a moment before exhaling slowly as she nodded slowly. "And I know."

"He asked if we were still dating." Douglas said shoving his hands in his pockets. "I know I don't deserve a second chance, but I don't know, maybe if they saw you were standing by me it would help.

"Hmm." Diane nodded. "It probably would."

"What does that mean?'

"It means, I don't know what it means." Diane sighed. Her gaze hidden she looked in his eyes. He looked scared. She knew him, he wasn't a murderer. She always considered herself to be a good judge of character. She cared for him. Probably loved him. She wouldn't be able to love someone who could take a life. She straightened her posture. "It means, I am mad at you. The things you said were so off mark. You don't get to tell me who I can and can't spend time with. But it means, I don't think you killed Erik. So, if showing a united front will help you, I'll help you. But if you ever act like that again."

"I won't."

"Hmm." Diane nodded as she started walking down the sidewalk. "We'll see."


	11. Chapter 11

Rhiannon stepped out of the copy room and smiled when she say her father leaning against the wall. "Hey! What are you doing here?"

"Hey." Kurt smiled holding up a file folder. "I finished looking into your case. Thought I'd drop it off for you. See where you work."

"Take your father to work day." Rhiannon grinned pointing down the hall. "My office is down there. Come on. It might not seem like much, but my first office only had room for an extra chair. But now I have a whole couch."

"Impressive couch." Kurt chuckled.

"Yeah, I like it. And!" She said tapping her door. "My name is on the door." She entered her office and sat down. "This is the point when you're suppose to tell me how proud you are and you've always believed in me. Then we cry and hug."

"Can I do the first part and skip the last part?" Kurt asked entering the office and sitting down across from his daughter.

"It's okay, it's implied." Rhiannon grinned. "Does that folder show the gun that killed Erik Thompson was used in about 30 robberies?"

"No." Kurt sighed sliding the folder across the desk. "The bullet was odd. Took me a while to place it. It was antique. A collectors item really. The victim was shot at very close range. It's the only way they would have done any damage."

Rhiannon bit her lip slightly to stop from swearing. Even if she was an adult sitting in her own office, she knew she could still get a lecture from her father. She didn't have time for that. "Any chance the collector of the gun is a known serial killer?"

"I'm still trying to locate the actual gun. There aren't many of them, shouldn't take much longer to find one in the area. Assuming it wasn't dumped after the murder. It's expensive though. If it was dumped someone probably reported it stolen for the insurance money"

"That could help. Maybe spin that the robber stole the gun and used it to kill Thompson when he robbed him. The other robberies were nonviolent because the gun hadn't been stolen yet. I like it."

"Assuming the gun was reported stolen before the murder."

"Well yeah. I'm trying to see the glass half full." Rhiannon sighed as Kalinda appeared in her doorway. She raised her hand and waved the investigator in. "Dad this is Kalinda. She works here, she's the office PI. Kalinda, this is my Dad. He is currently an unhelpful ballistics expect." She leaned back in her chair and frowned.

"Other people call me Kurt."

"Nice to meet you." Kalinda smiled. She turned to Rhiannon. "We better get going if we're going to talk to Evans."

"Okay." Rhiannon said retrieving her purse from her bottom drawer. "We're going to visit a man, who is about 104, at his nursing home. I'll check it out and if it seems nice I'll add it to the list." Kurt remained silent, but shook his head slightly, causing Kalinda to chuckle slightly under her breath.

"If you go down the hall and turn right, away from the elevators, you'll find Diane's office. It's big, lots of red. It's nice." Rhiannon grinned. "You know, in case you were wondering. Wink, wink."

"Go see your old man."

"You'll always be my #1 old man pops." Rhiannon smiled patting Kurt on the shoulder. "See ya later."

 

"Your father is seeing Diane?" Kalinda asked once Rhiannon caught up to her.

"Yeah. It's pretty new. Oh my god, are we gossiping?"

"No. I don't gossip."

"Right. Good talk." Rhiannon nodded as the elevator opened. "Hey." She smiled as Will stepped out. "We're going to see the cop that questioned Bates. Hopefully we make it before he dies of old age."

"How old is he?"

"91." Kalinda said. "But according to the nurses he's still really sharp and will probably remember something."

"Worth a shot." Will shrugged. "Good luck."

"My Dad was a big bust on the gun." Rhiannon said. "It's an antique, linked to no other crimes. He's checking with collectors to see if we can find the owner." She frowned slightly. "Because the gun was so old he said it would have had to be shot at close range. It's the only way it could have done any damage. Kinda goes against the killer being a stranger."

"Let's build the defines before you poke holes in it." Will sighed. "Go talk to your cop, maybe we'll get lucky."

 

"Hello." Kurt said knocking on Diane's door.

"Hello." Diane said taking off her glasses. "Come in. Please." She smiled trying to control the giddiness she suddenly felt. She was far too old to have this reaction to a man standing in her doorway.

"I was just bring Rhiannon my findings on your friend's case." Kurt said sitting down, "Thought I'd stop by and say hi."

"Hi." Diane smiled. "Did you find anything helpful?"

"Not really."

"Oh." Diane frowned. She did not want to talk about Douglas. Not with Kurt anyway. She caught him look past her and glanced over her shoulder. She smiled. "Hillary?"

"No." Kurt smirked. "I was looking at the dog."

"Right. His name is Justice."

"Fitting."

"Hmm." Diane hummed pushing a lock of hair behind her ear. She looked at Kurt and titled her head slightly. "Have you always been this quiet? Or did Rhiannon make you this way because she's always talking?"

"I'm a good listener." Kurt shrugged. "I just tent to be around people who have a lot to say."

Diane narrowed her eyes and laughed. "Is that your way of saying I talk a lot too?"

"Want to have dinner tonight?" Kurt asked leaning back in his chair.

"I won't be able to get out of here until at least eight."

Kurt shrugged. "That's fine."

"Okay then." Diane smiled. "Yes. I would."

"Sorry." Will said appearing in the doorway. "We have to get to that thing."

"Okay." Diane nodded. "This is Kurt McVeigh. Kurt, this is my partner Will Gardner."

"Nice to meet you finally." Will said. "Rhiannon just filled me in on your results for our case. I'd be lying if I said they were helpful."

"Sorry about that." Kurt said standing up. "I'm sure you'll be able to twist it around to suit your case." He turned back to Diane and nodded. "I'll see you later."

 

"So what's the game plan?" Rhiannon asked as she and Kalinda walked towards the entrance of Bella Nursing Home. "Pretend we're here to to see Nona and strike up a conversation with Evans?"

"Or, we could tell the truth."

"Yeah sure." Rhiannon shrugged. "That would work too."

"I don't think anyone would believe we have the same grandmother." Kalinda said, as Rhiannon's auburn hair blew up in the wind, helping prove her point.

"Racists." Rhiannon sighed holding open the door.

"Why don't you let me talk." Kalinda whispered before smiling at the receptionist. "Hello, I'm Kalinda Sharma. We spoke earlier about Detective Evans."

"Yes." The young girl smiled . "He's been waiting for you. He loves to talk about old cases. He doesn't get many visitors so this is a real treat for him."

"That's so sad." Rhiannon sighed. "I should go visit my Grandma more. But she has so many cats I can never breathe. And she always tries to tech me to knit." She stopped when she realized both Kalinda and the receptionist were staring at her. "Sorry. Where's Detective Evans?"

 

"Is Rhiannon's father helping you on a case as well?" Will asked as he watched the numbers change on the elevator, avoiding what he knew was a glare from Diane.

"His name is Kurt and we both know he's not. So why don't you just say what you want to say."

"Does Rhiannon know you have a thing for her Dad?" Will asked as the elevator opened.

"I do not have things for people." Diane sighed stepping out into the hallway. "But yes, she knows and she's fine with it."

"She a really good lawyer. A few years away from being a great one."

"Yes." Diane sighed. "Can you please speed this up and make the point you want to make."

"I don't have a point per-say. Just thinking about things you've said to me in the past. That's all." Will stopped and turned to face Diane. "I want the best for you. You know that. And you deserve to be happy. But you have always been so careful at keeping your private life separate from the firm."

"And I would love to keep doing that."

"Rhiannon is a good lawyer. A good lawyer who is very close with her father."

"I appreciate what you are getting at. I know what I am doing. I am not a teenager. I know how to have an adult relationship."

"I know you do, but does Rhiannon?" Will sighed when Diane just rolled her eyes. "Okay okay, let's get this meeting over with."

 

"Do you remember a murder in the late 70s." Kalinda asked. "A man named Erik Thompson. He was shot."

"The college kid in the woods." Evans nodded. "I've been thinking about it since I heard you were coming ."

"Right. " Kalinda smiled. "It was decided it was a robbery gone bad. But you questioned another student. Douglas Bates."

"The doctor. Yeah. There was something off about him. Can't say I pegged him as a criminal, but there was something off."

"So you agree, it was a robbery gone bad?" Kalinda pressed.

"I don't know. It fit more than anything else at the time. A few people had been hit in the area. No violence though. Bates had an alibi. A shaky one, but an alibi."

"He was at the library." Rhiannon said. "There was a witness wasn't there?"

"An employee said Bates was always there. But if you see someone in the same place every day six days a week are you going to remember what day it was you didn't see him?"

"No." Rhiannon said shaking her head. "Probably not."

"So it was just the alibi that made you stop looking at Bates?"

"And the lack of any other proof. Can't go and arrest every guy who gets angry and says he'll kill someone. And there was his girlfriend. I don't remember her name. She was tall, pretty."

"Diane Lockhart." Kalinda said.

"Yeah. She backed Bates. From what I remember she has a thing with the vic too. But she stood by Bates. She was a nice girl. Smart. She helped him a lot."

Rhiannon looked over at Kalinda and frowned. She looked back at Evans and decided to bring up the main issue that had been nagging at her the entire case. "Detective, in your experience do you find people confess to things they didn't do when they are drunk?"

"Drink people will confess to anything. Killing JFK, stealing the Limburger baby.

"What about a friend they had been accused of killing almost 40 years ago?"

"No." Evans said shaking his head. "i don't think many people would do that."


	12. Chapter 12

"Rough day?" Kurt asked as Diane immediately reached for the wine as the server paced it on the table.

"Long." Diane sighed taking a sip. A slow smiled spread across her face as she looked at Kurt. "This is excellent wine."

"You seem surprised."

"Pleased." Diane clarified. "But you don't really come across as a wine aficionado. No offence."

"None taken. My wife was a chef. It drove her nuts when people didn't pair the right wine with her food. I leaned about wine mostly out of survival. She once catered a wedding and threatened to leave with all the food if they didn't removed the bottles of red from the tables."

Diane smiled. "So that's how you ended up with a daughter that's so" She furred her brow slightly.

"Eccentric?"

"I was going to say head strong." Diane smiled. "And that's a compliment."

"Well she is that." Kurt laughed. "Always has been. Even as a little kid she wanted to be a lawyer. I'm not sure where it came from. If she got grounded she would argue for time served. Avery, her mother, would always try to teach her to cook, but she was never into it. Have you ever smelt burnt broccoli?"

"No." Diane laughed. "I don't know it was possible to burn broccoli."

"It is when you turn the burner on high and sit down on the floor to read a book." Kurt laughed. "It's a horrible smell. It lasted for two days. But how do you get mad, she was reading." He smiled lost in the memory for a minute. "What about you? Did you always want to be a lawyer. You seem like you would have been a serious kid." He shook his head slightly. "I'm sorry. I just meant."

"It's okay." Diane smiled. "I was. James was always telling me to lighten up. But he was an idiot." She laughed slightly. "I was very careful not to disappoint my father. He was a lawyer and I wanted to be just like him. Mind you, not disappointing my father made me a major disappointment to my mother. I never wanted to play house and take care of the dolls she bought me." She bit her lip slightly wondering why she was opening up so much. "Sorry. That took a weird turn."

"No. Go on."

Diane shook her head. "No, it's your turn."

"Okay." Kurt nodded. "I was the same. I never wanted to play with dolls when I was a kid either."

Diane leaned her head back and laughed, the sound filling the restaurant. She picked up a bread stick and threw it at Kurt. He easily caught it and winked before taking a bite.

"There is no real story. My Dad was a butcher. My mom taught third grade. I have an older sister, who drove me nuts. I grew up in a place where everyone knew everyone."

"Sounds nice." Diane smiled.

"What are you saying? You think it sounds horrible." Kurt said. He laughed when she gave him a guilty smile. "Well I liked it. But enough with the history lesson. Why did your day drive you to drink?"

"You make me sound like an alcoholic." Diane said laughing when Kurt raised his glass. "It wasn't that horrible. Just long. There is this charity dinner coming up. We bought a table. It's good PR for the the firm."

"But you hate it?"

"Dry chicken and a room full of people pretending to like each other for an evening, why would I hate that? But it is a really good cause. I don't mind paying." She shrugged as she reserved for her wife. "It just goes with having my own firm."

"What the cause?"

"Wow. I don't remember the name." Diane frowned. "How horrible is that? Will and I sat through an hour long presentation today and I forgot the name. We're donating legal work for needy children."

"This nameless charity sounds worth an evening of rubber chicken. Open bar?"

"God, I hope so."

Kurt noticed as Diane's smile quickly faded and her posture stiffened as something over his should caught her eye. "I'm sorry." She whispered. He glanced over his shoulder and saw the man who had been sitting on Diane's steps approaching the table.

"Fancy running into you here."

"Yes." Diane said forcing a smile, which Kurt couldn't help but notice was not as natural as the one she's had all evening. "Funny how we went almost 40 years without seeing each other and now we keep seeing each other all around town." She stopped herself from rolling her eyes when Douglas tilted his head towards Kurt.

"Kurt McVeigh" Kurt said also noticing. "We met last week. At the hotel."

"Right." Douglas nodded looking back at Diane. "Dating the help?" He asked with a laugh. He tilted his head when Diane remained silent and just frowned at him. "Calm down. It was just a joke. You used to like jokes." He patted Kurt on the back. "She almost married me you know?"

"Dear lord." Diane sighed.

"But she dumped me. On a Wednesday. Can you imagine? Then I found someone who would marry me and she dumped me. Rewind and repeat. And now I'm back where I started, with Diane."

"Are you drunk?"

"I'm not on call and I'm over 21 Miss Lockhart."

"Dear lord." Diane repeated.

"Why don't we get you a cab?" Kurt said standing up.

"I don't need your help." Douglas said pushing Kurt's shoulder. "Why don't you go get a cab. You're not needed here."

"Okay." Diane said standing up. She grabbed Douglas' arm. "Come on." She turned to Kurt. "I'll be right back. I hope you stay, but if you leave I'll understand."

"Are you okay?"

She smiled." I'll be fine." Her smile faded as she looked back at Douglas. "You, come on."

"Are we going back to your place or mine?" Douglas asked rushing to catch up as Diane walked towards the exit. He almost walked into her when she stopped suddenly.

"There is no we. You are going back to your place. Alone. And I'm going to stay here and try not to kill you."

"I'm sorry." Douglas said, his eye suddenly filling. "I'm sorry." Diane bite her lip slightly and just stared at him, unsure what to say. "Everything is a mess. What's wrong with me? You didn't want me. No one wants me. All I have is my work and that is going to be taken away from me too. You know me. I didn't do anything wrong. What's wrong with me?"

Diane stepped forward slowly and put her hand on Douglas' cheek. "There is nothing wrong with you. You're drunk. Go home, sleep it off. Let Will and Rhiannon build your case. They'll prove you didn't kill Erik. You'll still have your work."

"But I won't have you." He sighed placing his hand on Diane's

"You don't even know me." Diane smiled pulling her hand back. "A lot has happened in 40 years."

"But you're still the prettiest girl I know."

"Go home." Diane smiled.

"I'm so sorry." Diane said walking back to the table. She pushed a lock of hair behind her ear and exhaled slowly when she noticed Kurt's credit card sitting on the table. "You're leaving. Can't say I blame you. Douglas is an idiot. He's not like that when he's sober. Or at least he wasn't. And yes, we were engaged, but that was almost 40 years ago." She knew she should stop talking and just let Kurt leave, but the words were just pouring out of her mouth. First, he had made her take up giggling and blushing, now she was rambling. No wonder he wanted to bail on the evening. "And I don't know why he mentioned it was a Wednesday we broke up. What does that have to do with anything?"

Are you done?" Kurt laughed.

"Yes," Diane sighed. "I'm sorry. Go."

"You don't need to keep apologizing. I'm leaving, but I was planning on leaving with you."

"Oh?"

"We didn't finish eating. I asked you out to dinner. It's implied eating is involved. I just thought we'd go somewhere we wouldn't be interrupted again."

"Oh." Diane repeated. She had suddenly gone from rambling to not being able to form more than a one word sentence. She shook her head slightly forcing herself to calm down. "Want to go back to my place?"

"Sounds good." Kurt smiled. "You can finish telling me what you were doing as a kid when your dolls were fending for themselves."

 

 

"It's getting late." Kurt said as Diane tried to stifle another yawn. "I should get going."

"No." Diane said quickly. "It's too long a drive for this time of night. Stay."

While it was too late for him to drive, she was hoping he would stay so she could fall asleep beside him. Even though they had spent the evening on opposite sides of her couch and had barely touched, this had been one of the most intimate dates she'd ever had. Their conversations had run the full gambit. Childhood antidotes, past relationships, her parents death, his wife's battle with cancer. What it was like raising a 16 year old girl alone and why she choose not to have children. They had debated politics and agreed on favourite places to travel. Even though they had only known each other a few weeks, she suddenly felt like she'd known Kurt for years.

Kurt smiled as Diane held out her hand. For years he had heard his daughter go on and on about Diane Lockhart, he could now say he was just an enamoured with the woman. She was fiercely intelligent and somewhat stubborn, but was also quick witted and possibly had the best laugh he had ever heard.

"You're right." Kurt smiled talking her hand. "It'll be almost sun up by the time I got back to my place."

"Now it's really in everyone's best interest if you remember that." Diane said swinging her arm slightly as she lead Kurt up the stairs.

"Remember that I live an hour away?"

"No." Diane grinned. "The part about me being right."

"Noted." Kurt nodded returning the grin. She was barefoot but a stair above him making her seem taller. While he hadn't known her long enough to completely judge her moods, she seemed genuinely happy. While she was clearly tired, there was a playfulness to her eyes. The bourbon he could smell on her breath could be aiding that. A night cap she had offered that had last nearly three hours. While he was far from a jealous man, he couldn't help but be happy that he was the one she was asking to stay. He was the one who had played a part in making her happy tonight. While Douglas was the one she helped into a cab to go home. Alone.

"What's wrong?" Diane asked resting her hands on his shoulders. "You look far away."

"Nothing." Kurt smiled. "I was just thinking."

"'Bout what?"

"Tonight was good."

Diane nodded, her hair brushing against his cheek. He reached up and tucked her hair behind her ear. When his lips met hers, the hands resting on his shoulders snaked around his neck as Diane quickly deepened the kiss.

Breathless, she pulled back slightly and smiled. "Tonight was really good." She agreed resting her forehead on his shoulder attempting to catch her breathe.

"Let's go to bed."

"I was just about to say that." Diane said moving up the stairs.

"Well, you are always right."

"And you're a quick learner." Diane laughed.


	13. Chapter 13

"Thanks for coming in." Rhiannon said pulling up her timeline of the events surrounding Erik Thompson's death. "Will and I are trying to prove Dr Bates had nothing to do with Erik's death. That way if his wife goes to the cops we'll have a cause built so they don't press charges. I've been talking to as many people as possible that were there at the time."

Olivia nodded. "Happy to help."

"Did you like Douglas?"

"I don't think he killed Erik."

Rhiannon looked up from her notes and smiled. "I'll take that as a no?"

"I wasn't upset when Diane decided not to marry him. Let's just say that. There was nothing wrong with him. I don't think he really liked me though. I doubt Diane and I would still be friends if they had gotten married. I wasn't his." She paused. "I didn't fit into their crowd. And he liked Diane to spend time with him."

"So he was possessive?"

"You spend too much time with Diane." Olivia smiled. "Twisting everything around to suit your case. He wasn't abusive.I would have killed him if he hurt hr. He just was old school. His lady should stand by her man. That kinda crap."

"And Diane was okay with that?"

"It was a long time ago. And in the end, no."

"What did you mean by their crowd?"

"Rich. My dad was a barber and my mom was a seamstress. I was on three scholarships and still needed a loan to go to school. I didn't know what it was like to go to boarding school. I couldn't go on ski trips over the winter break, I needed to work. Diane and James never cared. But there was a group that didn't understand. They looked down at the scholarship kids. It was like Douglas pitied me. And I didn't need anyone's pity. I think that's why he didn't like me. Diane could have fun doing things on the cheap, but it was beneath him."

Rhiannon scribbled a note quickly as she nodded her head. "What are about Erik?"

"He had a good arm. As long as he won football games he got to stay in school."

"So it bothered Douglas that Diane was seeing him and a poor scholarship kid?"

"Douglas was mostly bothered that Diane wasn't exclusive with him. But yeah, the fact the other guy was Erik didn't help."

"Because he was black too?"

"No. I don't think he was a racist, just a snob. He just said those things to make Diane made. She tended to spend more time with him after he pissed her off. But it back fired that night. She was ready to never see him again. She was going to be exclusive with Erik. But then, we, you know."

 

**1976**

"I can't believe him." Diane said. "How could he say those things. You should have punched him out."

"That wouldn't have helped anything." Erik sighed. "He probably would have gotten me arrested."

"Then I should have punched him out."

"Can you guys slow down." Olivia urged running to catch up."I'm too short to walk that fast."

"I'm not walking fast." Diane snapped.

Olivia rolled her eyes. "You always walk fast when you're angry. It's easy, you're like eight feet tall."

"Slow down." Erik said grabbing Diane's hand. "You're all worked up. But it will blow over. It always does."

"No." Diane said shaking her head. "Not this time. I meant it. I never want to see him again."

"Eight." Olivia said breathing heavily. She leaned against a tree trying to catch her breath.

"What?"

"Oh, I started keeping track of how many times you say that. You're at eight."

"Well I mean it this time."

"No you don't." Erik smiled. "Look, we have fun. But that's it. I've known it from the start. And so do have you, that's why you keep him around."

"What are you talking about?'

"You are from a different world Diane. It's fine, I get it. You have certain expectations for how your life is going to play out. We can have fun now, but in the end I don't fit into the expectations. Fit into your world. Rick little doctor boy does."

Diane shook her head, a deep scowl crossing her face. "Those aren't my expectations."

"They were placed on you at 's not your fault, but they are they. And if you weren't all worked up and really thought about it, you'd know it too. That's why you string doctor boy along. Keep in the wings for your fancy parties and for when you're ready to settle down."

"You make me seem like a huge bitch."

"You're not a bitch." Erik sighed. "You just have."

"Expectations." Diane said rolling her eyes.

"He has a point." Olivia said. "Your parents would give James a pass if he scrapped the bottom of the barrel and brought home a scholarship kid, but not you. You need an equal or someone higher."

"So I am a bitch and my parents are snobs?"

"You're not a snob." Olivia insisted. "But your mother, I mean, she's nice, she means well; but she treats me like a charity case overtime I see her."

"Maybe my parents have expectations for me." Diane conceded. "But it's my life. I will life it how I want. And right now I never want to see Douglas again. I don't care if I've said it seven times before, I mean it this time. And you're right." She said turning to Erik. "We have fun. We should keep having fun. I don't think my parents are snobs, but if they are, they'll just need to deal with it."

"Yeah, sure." Erik laughed. He reached for Diane's hand. "Let's go."

"I'm being serious." Diane insisted taking Erik's hand. "Tomorrow is Sunday lunch. Come with me."

"You want me to come to lunch with your parents?"

"Yes, I mean if you want to. But don't think I'm just using you so I have some antidote for when I'm old and a rich snob."

"What the hell was that?" Olivia asked looking behind her deeper into the woods.

"It was just a branch." Diane laughed.

"It was probably a racoon." Erik said. He held out his hand. "Come on jumpy, let's get out of here."

"We need to stop cutting through the woods." Olivia sighed. "Who cares if it saves time. I watch movies. This is where serial killers hang out."

 

**Present Day**

"So Diane was done with Douglas for good." Rhiannon said. "But ended up standing by him when he was accused of murder. So he ended up getting back he wanted."

Olivia shrugged. "I guess. It was pretty extreme circumstances though. But I guess it took her a little longer to fully break away from those expectations."

"Yeah I guess. I'm so glad my Dad wasn't like that. And he could have very easily threatened to shoot an of my boyfriends."

"Your Dad's cool?"

"Yeah" Rhiannon laughed. "Hasn't she told you all about him?"

"So come in tomorrow and we'll go over everything." Diane said.

"You slut." Olivia said as she walked into Diane's office.

"I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow." Diane said quickly before hanging up the phone. "If he heard you and doesn't show up tomorrow you owe me 3.2 million."

"Whatever." Olivia said sitting down. She rested her chin on her hand and smiled. "So, what's new?"

"Nothing. Although, sadly, my best friend apparently has a brain aneurism. What is wrong with you?"

"I'm just wondering why you're holding out on me."

"What are you talking about? Even after all this time I don't speak crazy Olivia."

"I just met with the puppy. She spilled the beans. You're sleeping with the gun man?"

"Jesus." Diane sighed.

"Don't get mad at the puppy. Her father came up in the conversation and she just assumed I knew. You know because I've been your best friend more than half your life. We tell each other everything. Or at least we used to."

"I was planning on telling you. And stop calling her puppy, you know her name."

"But she's so wide eyed and eager to please. Like a little retriever." Olivia smiled. "When exactly were you planning on telling me?"

"I wanted to tell you in person. I've been busy."

"With puppy's dad? Oh! Have you shot his gun?" She threw her head back and laughed. "Get that look off your face. I was being literal." She held up her hand, imitating a gun with her fingers. "Bow, bow. I'll wait until there is wine to talk about the other details. Right now I just want to know, have you, Diane Lockhart shot his gun?"

"I've shot a gun before."

"So that's a yes." Olivia grinned. "I have to get back to work. But you owe me details."


	14. Chapter 14

"Kalinda, I need everything you can find on Dave Waliand." Alicia said. "ASAP."

"Okay." Kalinda nodded. "I'm helping on the Bates case , but I'll get right on it."

"Okay."

Rhiannon shook her head as she watched Alicia walk away. "Girls."

"What?"

"Girls are so weird. You guys were really good friends and now she only talks to you when she has to. But she forgave her husband. He's the one that messed up. You didn't even know her at the time. We're fickle creatures us gals."

"Hmmm."

"Good talk." Rhiannon nodded. "I can handle this on my own if you want to go work on Alicia's thing."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I know how to use a library Kalinda. I did make it through law school. I'm only half the airhead I come off as. It's my shtick. You know, like your leather boots and that scowl you always give me."

Against her better judgement Kalinda smiled. "Okay, call me if you find anything."

 

 

Rhiannon sipped on her coffee as she flipped through the microfilm. She sent a silent thank you to the inventors of the internet, truly grateful most things were now digitised. She lifted her hand from the mouse when a headline caught her eye.

**Is Our Campus Safe?**   
_Shirley Miller_

_Many of us use the woods behind the Brookfield Building as a short cut. While this has been going on for years, this area has recently become a shanty town for the area homeless. Are we putting our self at risk trying to shave ten minutes off our walk to class?_

Rhiannon checked the date of the article and smiled when she saw it was dated six weeks before Erik Thompson's death. She pulled out her wallet in search of coins to print off the article.

 

**1976**

"Maybe we could organise a dinner. Free to anyone." Diane said. "And collect old scarves and hats. Put out a box for anyone who needs them."

"Dear lord Diane."

"What?" Diane asked looking at her mother. "It's going to be cold out soon. It could help. They are out there. I see their bags all the time."

"With all the money we've given that school you'd think they would do something."

"What are they suppose to do Mother?" James asked. "Tell them all to go home?"

"Talk some sense into them Joseph."

"I don't like the idea of you walking through the woods." Diane's father said taking off his glasses. "This article says the woods are dangerous."

"I'm fine." Diane shrugged. "I have a place to live and I am having lobster for lunch."

"You like lobster. Should I have served canned soup instead? I know, why don't I just open up the basement. Anyone without a home can move in."

Diane rolled her eyes. "All I'm saying is if people just avoid the woods it doesn't stop people from living there. And maybe people who can help, should."

"If you want to help people, come to tea with me next week. It's benefiting children with cancer. That's the type of people you should want to be helping. They didn't ask for cancer. These homeless people likely put themselves in the situation they're in, and now they want a hand out."

"Drinking tea doesn't help anyone. I hate tea. And I don't really think anyone decides to me homeless Mother."

"I'll help you collect things." James said. "And put something in the paper so people know where to drop things off."

"This is your fault."

"What did I do?" Joseph laughed.

"You encourage this behaviour."

"Sit down Elizabeth. Relax. They just want to help people."

"I'm going to check on dessert." Elizabeth sighed. "Don't worry Diane, you don't need to eat it. I'll have Liza package it up for your friends in the woods."

"Here." Joseph said taking a few bills from his wallet as his wife left the room. "Buy some hats, serve a hot meal. Whatever you think will help." He pulled his hand back when Diane reached for the money. "On the condition you promise to be careful. Leave for class early and take the pathway."

"I promise." Diane smiled.

 

**Present Day**

"Hi." Rhiannon smiled knocking on James' door. "Are you busy?"

"No." James said putting down his book. "I'm fairly certain George is still going to shoot Lennie in the end. Come on in. What brings you to my neck of the woods. Giving up being a lawyer and going back to school? Oh, want to teach?"

"No." Rhiannon laughed. "I was just in the library and reading articles from the school paper and I found this." She placed the article on James' desk. "There was a problem with homeless people living in the woods where Erik was killed?"

"Yeah. But they were harmless."

"So you thought. There were robberies in the area at the time too. Maybe they were more desperate than you thought."

"The same could be said for you. You're reaching a bit."

"It's my job." Rhiannon smiled. "You really think they were zero threat?"

"There was this one girl, Rachel something. She said she got attacked by a homeless man in the woods. No one really believed her though."

"Why?"

 

**1976**

"My mother is freaking out." Olivia said hanging up the phone. "She wants me to find a strong man to be my boyfriend and walk me to class or drop out." She looked at James and grinned. "Will you pretend to be my boyfriend. My mother can't ever meet you, she said strong."

"Funny."

"Why do you need a strong boyfriend?" Diane asked coming out of her bedroom.

"My mother read about Rachel Gratings. She thinks we'll all be beat up in the woods now."

"Did you tell her Rachel's boyfriend beat her up and she blamed it on the homeless guy so he wouldn't get kicked off the team?" James asked taking a sip of his beer. "Big strong men are overrated."

"Oh, did I hurt your feelings?" Olivia laughed. "I would date you, if you didn't look just like my best friend. I wonder what Freud would say about that."

Diane rolled her eyes. "Do you really think she'd lie like that?"

"Yeah. The guy is a jerk. He's in my creative writing class. Never shows up. Everyone knows he hits her, it's just this time he left a mark and people started asking questions."

"If everyone knows he hits her why is he allowed on the team?" Diane frowned.

"Ask Erik." James shrugged. "He's good with a football. As long as games are being won people tend to look the other way."

 

**Present Day**

"Do you remember Rachel's last name?"

"No. But her boyfriend was Trent Weaver."

"The guy from the Ravens?" Rhiannon asked looking up from her notebook in shock. "Really? He hit his girlfriend?"

"Well aren't we sporty."

"Raised by a single Dad." Rhiannon shrugged. "It's kinda entertaining. And there is junk food and beer." She pulled out her phone and quickly texted Kalinda.

**_Find a Rachel ? Dated Trent Weaver._ **

She put her phone back in her purse and closed her notebook as she smiled at James. "Thank you. You've been very helpful."


	15. Chapter 15

"So we're going to say our client didn't do it, a homeless person did?" Will said leaning back in his chair. He crossed his arms across his chest and shook his head slightly. "Isn't that a bit of a stretch?"

"Isn't that the definition of reasonable doubt?" Rhiannon shrugged. "It's as believable as a bitter ex talking about an alleged drunken confession. It's not like Lauren Bates has any other proof, and at this point she can't even testify against him because of spousal privilege. All we need is a stretch."

"Okay." Will nodded. "See if Kalinda can find this Rachel. If she was telling the truth get an affidavit. Any word on the gun?"

"Not yet. My Dad's still looking for the owner."

"Let's hope it was stolen. Hard to explain how a homeless person had an antique collectors item."

"Yeah."

"And great work so far." Will said handing back her back her notes. "I am really impressed ."

Rhiannon didn't bother to hide her grin. "Thanks." Her smile faded as she stepped out into the hallway and saw Douglas leaning against the wall. She forced a smile before approaching him. "Hey.'

"Oh, hi Rhianna."

"It's Rhiannon. Are you hear to see Will?" She asked pointing back at Will's office. "He's free. I was just filling him in on your case."

"Will?" Douglas frowned. "Oh. No."

"Oh." Rhiannon nodded following Douglas' gaze to Diane's office. "Okay. See ya around I guess. Have a good one."

"May I ask you a question?"

"Yeah, sure." Rhiannon said turning around.

"Diane and your father. Are they seeing each other?"

"You'd have to ask them. As you can imagine I try to avoid talking to my father about his love life. It's weird. And I really avoid it with my boss."

"You're a good little liar. I guess that bodes well for me if you're my lawyer."

Rhiannon tried not to scowl. "What is that suppose to mean?"

"Diane's not just your boss. You're friends with her brother, he has a nickname for you. I looked you up. You've been to fundraisers with Diane, hell you even wrote a paper about her in college. It's kinda precious really. You expect me to believe you two don't get together and gossip over a bottle of wine?"

"I'm impressed you were able to look me up when you can't remember my name." Rhiannon smiled. "Look, Diane's off the phone. Why don't you go ask her about your chances with her. She'd be the best judge of your odds."

"You don't like me."

Rhiannon shrugged. "I don't have to like you. I'm your lawyer." She noticed Kalinda wave from down the hallway and nodded. "I have to go. Your case and all. Have a lovely day."

Douglas shook his head slightly as she passed. "Is your little pet short with everyone or is it just for me?" He asked walking into Diane's office.

"My what?" Diane asked looking up from her computer. She glanced into the hallway and rolled her eyes when she saw Rhiannon and Kalinda. "Well for starters, did you call her my little pet? I would support her not responding well to that."

"Touche" Douglas sighed. "I guess insulting your employees is not the the best way to start my apology."

"Apology for what?"

"The other night. When I interrupted your business meeting I was drunk. I acted like an idiot. I'm sorry. I've started going to meetings. Well meeting. I went to one."

Diane smiled. "That's really great."

"What do you say I really apologize. Let me take you to dinner. No drinks, I promise. For me anyway. And you don't need bring a babysitter."

"Babysitter?"

"Olivia."

"Who in their right mind would have Olivia be their babysitter?" Diane laughed as she looked down at her agenda. "I'm busy tonight, and tomorrow. How about lunch on Sunday?"

"Lunch?"

Diane tilted her head. "Yes. What's wrong with lunch?"

"Nothing. Lunch sounds great."

"Okay." Diane nodded. "I need to get back to work. I'll call you though."

"Yeah. Okay. Sounds good."

 

 

 

"I found her." Kalinda said. "She's Rachel Green now."

"Like from Friends?"

"Sure." Kalinda nodded knowing it was quicker to just agree. "She lives in Fort Myers. But she agreed to Skype with us."

"Oh technology." Rhiannon grinned. Her smile faded as she watched Douglas leave Diane's office. "Hey, do you think Bates actually did it?"

"I don't care. And you shouldn't either."

"Yeah. I know. And I don't. I mean I'll do my job. But, I don't know, there is something about him that skeeves me out. He makes weird comments about Diane to me. And he just got really annoyed when I wouldn't tell him if my Dad was dating Diane." She shrugged her shoulders and forced a curl behind her ear. "Maybe I'm just being picky because he can't remember my name."

"This is a fascinating conversation and all." Kalinda said nodding her head towards the conference room.

"Right. Skype."

"But." Kalinda said putting her hand on Rhiannon's shoulder. "If it's ever more than him just not remembering your name and you don't want to be alone with him, let me know."

Rhiannon nodded. "Thanks."

Kalinda remained silent and walked into the conference room. She sat down at the computer, hitting the mouse before pulling out her orange notebook. She quickly opened Skype and dialled the number.

Rhiannon sat down as a face appeared on the screen. The woman smiled back at them, not necessarily by choice though, her face appeared permanently in that position from repeated trips to a plastic surgeon.

"Hello Mrs Green. I'm Kalinda. We spoke on the phone earlier. This is Rhiannon McVeigh. We just has a few questions for you."

"Yes of course." Rachel said and Rhiannon had to bite her cheek to stop from laughing , mentally promising to never get botox. "You want to talk about Erik. He was so nice. I knew him from the football team."

"Shortly before Erik's death you reported being attached in the woods. Do you remember that?"

If it was physically possible, Rachel would have frowned. "Yes, I remember. The man hit me in the face and stole my purse. You don't forgot something like that."

"Of course not." Kalinda nodded. "If needed would you be willing to sign an affidavit saying you were attacked?"

"Sure. Would I need to testify?"

"No. That would be unlikely." Rhiannon smiled. "Do you remember Douglas Bates?"

"Yes." Rachel said abruptly.

Rhiannon shot Kalinda a questioning look, "Did you not like him?"

"didn't really know him."

"Hmm," Rhiannon nodded. "Thank you Mrs Green."

"I'll be in touch." Kalindsa said before closing the lap top.

"That was weird." Rhiannon said. "It was like she was scared to say she didn't like Bates. And she was super eager to testify."

"She'd make a good witness. No one would be able to read her face to see if she was lying."

Rhiannon laughed as she followed Kalinda out into the hallway. "When this is all over I'll call her and see if she wants me to sue whoever did that to her." She waved suddenly causing Kalinda to stop.

"Hey Dad! I didn't know you were stopping by. I thought we were having dinner tomorrow." She nodded when she saw the guilt flash across Kurt's face. "Right! You're not here to see me, you're here for Diane. That seems to be the theme of today. It's cool. This isn't awkward at all."

Kalinda put her hand on Rhiannon's shoulder. "Just stop talking talking." She whispered.

"Hmm." Rhiannon nodded.

"Kalinda right?" Kurt asked smiling when she nodded. "You must tell me your secret. I've been trying to do that since she was two and learned to talk."

"Sorry. I can't reveal my secrets."

"Haha. You guys are hilarious." Rhiannon said rolling her eyes. "I only seem like I talk a lot because neither of you ever talk. Have fun on your date Dad. I'll be in my office pretending to work, when I am really hiding from my feelings of abandonment."

"Okay." Kurt nodded. "Make sure you eat. I'll see you tomorrow. Nice seeing you again Kalinda"

"You too." Kalinda smiled.

Rhiannon titled her head and watched Kalinda. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. You really get a long with your father. It's nice." She smiled and walked away before Rhiannon could ask the inevitable follow up questions.

 

 

 

"Hey." Diane said."I thought you were coming at 6." She looked at her watch and frowned. "And it's 6:07."

"I can come back later if you're busy."

"No, it's fine. This can all wait." Diane smiled taking off her glasses. "Let's go. I want to eat this big fancy meal you're making."

"Well, I don't know how fancy it'll be."

"I'll take what I can get." Diane shrugged grabbing her purse and coat from where she had dropped them that morning. "Besides I'm sure it'll be fancier than, where are you going? South Dakota?"

"North." He said taking her bag so she could put her coat on. "Be careful, your inner snob is showing." He easily moved out of the way when she pretended to punch him. "I should only be there for 6 days. I'll be home next Saturday."

"Oh. That's the night of the fundraiser. You don't want. Never mind. I mean, if you want." She exhaled slowly. She was doing that thing again when he got her all flustered and she couldn't talk in a complete sentence. It was so unlike her, and she found it quite annoying. At least she wasn't blushing this time. "Would you like to go to the fundraiser? We have a whole table."

"Sure." Kurt smiled.

The fact he didn't comment on her ramblings almost made her feel bad for trying to hit him when he called her a snob. Instead she just smiled back. "Let's go. My kitchen is waiting for someone to cook in it."


	16. Chapter 16

"So?" Olivia asked, a wide grin spreading across her face. "Give me details. I'm a happily married, faithful woman. I need the really juicy stuff."

"He's really nice. I like him a lot."

Olivia frowned. "In what world is 'he's really nice' a juicy detail?"

Diane shrugged as she sipped her wine. "It's not a juicy detail, but it's an important one. He makes me all flustered. But he makes me laugh. He cooked me dinner last night."

"Damn." Olivia sighed. "You're not just sleeping with the guy are you?"

"I told you, I really like him."

 

 

"So how was the big date last night?"

"Good." Kurt nodded. He tilted his head slightly and looked at his daughter. "We never really talked about this. You're sure you are okay with me seeing Diane?"

"Yeah." Rhiannon shrugged. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"She's your boss for starters. And I know how much you look up to her."

"Yeah, she's pretty great. Don't you think I would want you to date someone great? I have this client who repeatedly gets busted shop lifting. Last week she had a DUI. Do you want her number for when she gets out of rehab?" Rhiannon smiled. "It's totally fine. And when have I ever said I was okay with something I wasn't really okay with?"

"When you were ten and you agreed with everything I said because you wanted a pony."

"And look where that got me." Rhiannon laughed. "I promise I'm okay with it. Just pretend every once in a while when you stop by L/G you're there to see me and we'll be cool."

"Well as long as we'll be cool." Kurt smiled taking a sip of his beer. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"It's Saturday night and you're having pizza and beer with your father."

"Yeah, but I like pizza and beer. And most of the time, my Dad." Rhiannon shrugged. "I have friends. I go out. Don't worry, I' m not some weird shut in."

"But no special fella?"

"Dear lord, please never say the words special fella."

 

 

"Is that your third glass?"

"Yes." Diane frowned. "Since when do you monitor how much I drink?"

"Well we've covered that Kurt is a nice guy, knows how to cook, is funny, and don't forget nice. And that's all wonderful. Really. I'm happy you are so happy."

"But?"

"But," Olivia grinned. "I want to get to the good stuff. I saw the guy, briefly, but it was enough. How is the sex?" She narrowed her eye studying Diane's face before letting out a laugh. "Oh my god. Are you blushing?"

"God. What is wrong with me?" Diane asked putting her hands on her cheek. "Since I've met Kurt I've taken up blushing and he makes me ramble."

"You're in deep." Olivia nodded. "And you didn't answer my question."

"He knows what he's doing." Diane smiled as Olivia nodded leaning forward. "I think my mistake all these years has been dating men I have too much in common with. Who knew hearing someone defend Jeb Bush could be such a turn on."

"Kinky." Olivia nodded as Diane rolled her eyes. "So what are you going to do about the other one?"

"What other one?"

"Man in your life." Olivia sighed. "Don't act all naive and pretend you don't know Douglas wants back in your pants."

"That ship has long since sailed. I'm having lunch with him tomorrow, he wants to apologize. But once Will and Rhiannon are done with his case, I think it's best to put all of this back in the past for good."

"Excellent ideas." Olivia nodded. "Wait, apologize for what?"

"He was drunk the other night. He was at the same restaurant as Kurt and I. He came over to the table and made an ass of himself. He was going on and on about how we used to be engaged and after all this time I'm helping him out."

"But he knows nothing is going to happen right? I mean he saw you there with Kurt. And Kurt knows you're just helping out an old friend right? He knows you're not paying his daughter to clear your ex of murder so you can get back together with him."

"You make it seem so dramatic. I just agreed to lunch because he seemed so pathetic. He was practically crying at the restaurant. His marriage is over and he's scared his career will be over. He had too much to drink. But he said he is going to meetings."

"No. No. No."

"What?" Diane frowned.

"You are not doing this. I won't let you."

"Do what?"

"Take pity on him. He doesn't deserve it. You are such a sucker for the underdog. Remember that time you were going to dump legal aid and instead moved them into your building? People are all pathetic and they bat their eyelashes at you and you go running to help."

"So what? I help people." Diane sighed. "I'm friends with you. You're the most pathetic person I know."

"Pretending to be mean to me isn't going to make me drop this. You like Kurt. You've said like forty times he's a good guy. Don't be an idiot and mess that up. There is a reason you broke up with Douglas. And now he seems to have added a drinking problem. Not exactly the catch of the year darling. Don't let him mess up your chance with a good guy because you think you owe him something. You owe him nothing."

"When did you get so bossy?"

"When you started spending time with Douglas Bates again." Olivia sighed. "The moment you decided not to marry him and grabbed those scissors and cut off your hair I saw you change. You became." She waved her hand dramatically. "You. The strongest person I've ever met. And look where it's gotten you. You shouldn't revert back."

"I'm not." Diane said. "I'm not."

 

 

"I'll be glad when the case is over." Rhiannon said. "It's been fun learning about everyone back then, but Douglas, I don't know, he's weird. But I'm sure you'll be happy when it's over too."

"Me, why would I care?"

"Well he obviously still has a thing for Diane. He stops by the office all the time, but he never wants to talk to me or Will. His lawyers. Just Diane. And he doesn't like me. Not that I care, I don't like him. He's weird."

"You already said that." Kurt said shaking his head when Rhiannon just shrugged. "What does that mean anyway? Do you think he's dangerous?"

"No. I don't think so. There is just something off about him. Maybe he's one of the those people who are super smart and study so much they have no social skills and can't have a regular conversation with an actual human." Rhiannon shrugged again and reached for the hot sauce, frowning when she realized the bottle was empty. "Your phone is ringing."

"I know."

"You can answer it." Rhiannon said rolling her eyes. "I'm not the one who thinks it's rude. " She jumped off her stool. "I'm going to find hot sauce. Listen to your voice mail."

"Yes ma'am." Kurt said puling his phone out of his pocket. He was shocked to see he had three missed messages. Hoping his case had been postponed or better yet, settled, he quickly accessed his voice mail.

_"Hi Kurt. It's me. Um, Diane. Do we know each other well enough for me to just say it's me? Anyway, I, uh, I just wanted to let you know I'm only having Rhiannon help Douglas because he was a friend in the past. But that's it. The past. So I just wanted you to know that. Bye."_

Kurt smiled. He was far from a self conscious man, but he's be lying if he said it didn't make him happy, relieved even to hear her message.

_"Hey. It's me again. I'm out with Olivia. We've had a lot wine. I don't normally leave messages like that. Hey, have a good trip to North Dakota. Wow, I don't normally say that either."_

_"Hey. I know we joked before about me having a drinking problem. And tonight is not helping my case. But I don't. Okay, Olivia is taking my phone now. Bye."_

"I assume it was Diane that called?" Rhiannon said returning to the table.

"And why would you assume that?"

"Because you have a really stupid grin on your face." Rhiannon held out the bottle of hot sauce. "I need you to open this, so I will refrain from pointing out how lame you look."


	17. Chapter 17

Diane took her sunglasses off and scanned the restaurant. She took a deep breath when Douglas waved her over. When he mentioned what restaurant he had wanted to meet at she had been tempted to cancel. Being here was probably a mistake.

"Hi." She said with a forced smile as she sat down. "Have you been waiting long?"

"No. I just got here."

"Good. Good."

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. Fine." She sighed slightly. "I had lot of wine last night. I just need some coffee." She looked around the restaurant. It looked different from the last time she had been there. Which she supposed was to be expected.

 

**1977**

 

"This place is so fancy." Diane smiled as Douglas pulled out her chair.

"You've just been spending too much time with Olivia." Douglas said sitting down across from Diane. "You've become used t burgers and pizza places. This was the type of place you belong. It's what you were bred for."

"Bred for?" Diane laughed. "You make me sound like a dog. And a lot like my mother."

"You're far from a dog."

"Um, thanks?"

Douglas sighed. "This is not going the way I planned. Let's start over. This is a nice place."

"Yes." Diane smiled. "Fancy."

"Good evening." The waiter smiled approaching the table. "Your food will be out shortly. To start we have a lovely beet salad. And as requested a bottle of house red." He said presenting the bottle.

Douglas nodded. "Very nice. Thank you."

"Of course Sir. My name is Jon please let me know if you need anything."

"You already ordered?" Diane asked as Jon walked away as Jon walked away from the table. She hated beets, but Douglas was being so sweet and they had been getting along so well the past few months, she didn't want to argue.

"Yeah. Is that okay?"

"Fine." Diane nodded reaching for her wine.

 

**Present Day**

 

Diane sipped her coffee, praying for the caffeine to kick in quickly. She noticed Douglas was smiling at her and shifted in her chair. "What?"

"Nothing." Douglas continued to smile. "I'm just impressed you waited until lunch to have a coffee. You used to require it first thing in the morning."

"Oh, this isn't my first coffee." Diane laughed. "It's at least my third. I don't know. Who counts how many coffees they've had?'

"I do. I never have more than two cups of coffee a day. All the caffeine, it's not good for your heart."

Diane bit her tongue to stop herself from asking about liquor and the human liver. People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones and people with a hang over shouldn't criticise other people's drinking. Instead she just nodded and took another sip of coffee. "I think my heart is okay with it."

"You should come in for a stress test." Douglas said picking up his menu. "I haven't been here in years. I wonder if they still have that great beet salad. Do you remember that?"

"I hate beets."

"Since when?"

"Since the first time I tried one and asked my mother what I was eating and she said beets."

"Oh." Douglas frowned slightly. "Beets are great. They are full of antioxidants. They are really good for you. What are your feelings on pomegranates? Because they are really a super fruit. They are so good for your heart."

"I like them." Diane chuckled.

 

**1977**

 

"And I got to close all by myself." Douglas said his face lighting up. "Sure, there were three experienced doctors right there, but I did it all by myself."

"That's really exciting." Diane said with a smile. She always liked when he talked about medicine. She didn't always understand what he was talking about, but it was nice to see him so animated and excited.

"And Dr Dermaine even complimented my technique."

Diane laughed slightly. "Did you tell him how much you practice?"

"No. I wanted him to think I was a natural." Douglas grinned. He shook his head slightly. "But enough about that. That's not what tonight is about."

"Oh. I didn't know tonight was about something." Diane joked. She couldn't help but notice the excitement on his face was gone. He looked nervous suddenly. Pale. She tilted her head slightly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Good. Really good. And it's because of you Diane. I mean that. I was an idiot and you could have walked away and left me to fend for myself. But you've been there the past six months. You stood by me, you believed me. You have no idea what that means to me."

Unsure what to say Diane just nodded. In retrospect she would wonder why she hadn't clued in sooner what he was doing. But in the moment she was completely clueless, more concerned he was going to be crying when the waiter brought out desert."

"The only people who have stood by me are you and my grandparents. The three of you are the only ones that matter. When I told them my plans for tonight, they were thrilled. You know how they're big collectors, always searching the best antiques. They wanted me to have this."

Diane felt her stomach flip when he placed the velvet box on the table. "Have that?"

"Yes." Douglas smiled. "And I want you to have it. I love you, Diane Lockhart. Will you marry me?" He was still smiling as he took the ring out of the box.

"Whoa." Diane whispered. It was a beautiful ring. White gold and a cluster of small diamonds giving the illusion of one much larger. She looked up at Douglas and realized she needed to answer him. He was a good man and was going to be a great doctor. Although he wanted to be her husband, not her GP. She had never really thought about getting married. Was that weird? But this is what people did right? They dated, the got engaged and then they got married. It had been going on for centuries.

"Diane?"

"Hmm?" Diane mumbled looking up. "Oh! Right. Sorry, you just really surprised me."

"Do you need time? I mean if you want to."

"No." Diane cut him off, watching his face instantly fall. "Oh! I mean no I don't need more time." She sighed. "Ask the last part again."

Douglas nodded slowly. "Will you marry me?"

 

**Present Day**

 

"Did you ever make it to the Louvre?"

"What?" Diane asked snapping out of her daze. "The Louvre? Yes. James and I spent a week in Paris for our fortieth birthday."

"That must have been an interesting trip, to say the least." Douglas laughed. He frowned slightly when Diane just nodded. "I am sorry."

"For what?"

"This. Coming to this restaurant. Bringing up our honeymoon. It's just I have been going through the 12 steps. One of them is to amend. It seems like a biggie for me. I've been thinking a lot about the past. Especially those years with you, for obvious reasons. I realize I spent a long time hating you."

"Oh." Diane said stiffening slightly.

"But that was unfair to you. It was misguided. I didn't really hate you, I was jealous of you."

"Jealous?"

"You know what you wanted. Even then. And look at you, you went out and got it." He shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe if you had dumped me and married someone else right away I'd hate you. But it wasn't necessarily me but marriage in general. You had a goal and you stuck with it."

"You weren't exactly floundering back then. You wanted to be a doctor, you followed that plan."

"Yeah. But I had other plans too, ones that weren't really my own, just ones I thought I had to follow. But you knew to only make your plans. I didn't realize it for a few years, but you were right. I loved you. I know I did. But we wouldn't have lasted, we wanted different things. We would have divorced and then we really would have hated each other. But maybe now we can put the past behind us. For good. And be friends."

"Yeah." Diane nodded, smiling. "Friends."

 

**1977**

 

"How was your big fancy weekend with Dr Perfect Teeth?" James asked as Diane walked into her apartment.

"Why are you always here?" Diane sighed throwing her bag down on the corner chair as she kicked off her shoes. She sat down beside her brother, placing her hand on her lap.

"No!" James said grabbing her hand. "No."

"Yes." Diane smiled.

"Olive get in here."

"What?" Olivia asked coming out of the kitchen. She smiled when she saw Diane. "Hey, you're home."

"Ask how her weekend was." James said waving Diane's left hand in the air.

"Shut up!" Olivia yelled, causing Diane to wince. "You're going to marry him?"

"Yeah." Diane nodded. "This is the point when my best friend and brother are suppose to congratulate me."

"Yeah, yeah." Olivia said. "Congrats."

"Hasn't Mother taught you anything. The bride gets best wishes." James said his face suddenly lighting up. "You haven't told her yet have you?"

"I just got home."

"Please let me be there when you tell her." James laughed. "She is going to be in Heaven. She probably has the entire thing planned already. Let me tell her I broke up with Sara first. She won't care once she knows she gets to plan a wedding. This is the best thing that's happened to me in a while."

"What about you?" Olivia asked taking Diane's hand to admire the ring. "Pretty. Is this the best thing to happen to you? Because at the moment the idiot seems more excited than you do."

"Of course I'm excited." Diane said. "I'm just not the kinda girl to jump up and down and squeal over an engagement. But it's great. I am happy."

 

**Present Day**

 

Diane walked into her living room and threw her purse down on the chair in the corner. She saw the movement out of the corner of her eye jumped slightly. "Dear god." She sighed placing a hand to her chest. "What are you doing here? You almost scared me to death."

"Shouldn't we have a better radar." James smiled. "Be able to sense each other's presence."

"What are you doing here?" Diane repeated.

"I'm not really sure. Something about an intervention. But it's not needed right? You didn't recently have a lobotomy and decide to start seeing Douglas again, did you?"

"Olivia." Diane sighed. She sat down beside James and closed her eyes. Douglas had seemed sincere at lunch. He was trying to be a better person. He needed a friend and why couldn't that be her? She felt she had been clear. Friends. Nothing more.

"I guess I lie to most my students."

Diane opened her eyes and moved her head slightly to look at her brother. When he remained silent she rolled her eyes. "Hurry up. Tell me your little antidote about how your students' lives are like mine so you can prove your point and go home."

"My you're cranky. But let's do this. At least once a week there is a student sobbing in my office. It's almost always the same, their boyfriend dumped them, their girlfriend cheated etc etc."

"And what life affirming pep talk to you give them?"

"That when you are in college you figure out the person you really are. What you believe in, what matters. You make friends you keep for the rest of your life. And you meet people you don't want to be like, or ever see again. And then I give them a copy of "The Sun Also Rises."

Diane laughed. "Why Hemingway?"

"I'm their Lit teacher, it makes sense to give them a book. I have a case of them in my office I accidentally ordered. It's a good book, they tend to get into it before they realize it has not relevance to getting dumped."

Diane rested her head on his shoulder and chuckled. "You're an idiot."

"One of us had to get the looks. You got the brains." James said grabbing Diane's hand before she could smack him. "Have you seen much of Protege's father since we all had dinner?" He leaned back and laughed as Diane's cheeks reddened. "Are you blushing?"

Diane sighed as she put her hands to her cheeks. "It's a habit I have recently acquired."

"I don't think you've ever blushed before. You must have it bad."

"Kinda."


	18. Chapter 18

"Wow."Diane said opening her front door, inadvertently licking her lips. She was pleasantly surprised with how well he wore a suit. The charcoal fabric tailored perfectly.

"I was going to say the same thing." Kurt smiled. "You look beautiful." The black satin was more basic than he had expected, but he wasn't going to complain about how the fabric seemed molded to her torso. And it's not as though he knew anything about evening wear.

"Why thank you." Diane said moving out the way so he could enter the townhouse. She turned slightly so he could see the sequined back of the dress. "I like the suit."

"Huh?"

Diane chuckled slightly. "I like your suit." She reached up and adjusted his tie. "You clean up well." She smiled before kissing him quickly. "Hi. I meant to say that, but I got distracted."

"Hi."

"How was your trip?" She asked quickly checking her phone before tossing it in her clutch.

"I stayed in a hotel and testified during the day. Same as every other trip. I did get an extra box of cookies on my flight home. So there was that."

"So glamorous." Diane laughed reaching for her coat. Before she could open the door Kurt stopped her, his hand covering hers on the handle.

"Is this a sit and eat kinda thing, or is there dancing?"

Diane tilted her head and grinned. "Can you dance?"

Kurt shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, guess you'll have to wait and see."

 

"Thank God." Rhiannon sighed rushing towards Kurt and Diane as they walked into the hall. She smiled. "You look nice. Now come on."

"All those years I spent instilling the importance of manners, it really paid off."

"Yeah yeah." Rhiannon said rolling her eyes. "You need to go talk to the people in charge. They won't listen to me."

"Why?" Diane asked. "What is going on?"

"The seating chart. I am sitting at a table with Dad, David Lee and some woman who is about 95 years old."

"So?"

"So? I just assumed you two would want to sit together. You aren't at that table. You're over with Will, Alicia and Douglas. I tried to fix it, but no one will listen to me. Will's not here yet, but they'll listen to you, you wrote the cheque, they'll be more inclined to help. And if they don't, I'm going home. That lady is creepy. She was hitting on David and he seemed into it."

"Calm down." Diane sighed. "I'll get everything sorted out."

"The bar is over here." Rhiannon said as Diane walked away. "I tipped well so the bartender and me are pretty tight."

"Words every father wants to hear." Kurt sighed following his daughter to the bar.

 

"You look beautiful tonight."

Diane stopped herself from rolling her eyes as she turned towards Douglas. "Thank you. I didn't know you'd be here. Especially assigned to my table." She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "Do you know anything about that?"

Douglas shrugged. "I saw Lockhart/Gardner on the guest list and mentioned to Ethel we were friends. She must have moved us together."

"And it's just a coincidence Kurt and Rhiannon got moved to a different table?"

"They have the same last name, Ethel probably thought they were married." Douglas said, a small smile spreading across his face. "It's funny isn't it?"

"What?"

"That we'd end up here together. This is exactly what you didn't want, to end up at charity events, with me. And here we are."

"It's not the same thing." Diane sighed. "What are you even doing here?"

"Same as you. Donating my services to children in need. I am a doctor. What's Kurt doing here? Teaching kids how to shoot a gun?"

"He's my date." Diane said shaking her head slightly. If he was trying to get a rise from her it wasn't going to work. "Have a good evening." She straightened her posture and walked to the table in the back corner. "David, would you like to go sit at the main table. I'll take your spot here."

David tilted his head and frowned. "What is the catch?"

"No catch. There was error with the seating chart. We were all suppose to be at the same table. It's too late to fix it now. Go. I'll stay here. No catch."

"Okay." David said standing up. "Gloria, it was an absolute pleasure."

 

"Hey." Will smiled as David sat down next to him. "Having a good night?"

"I'm sorry." Douglas said before David could answer. "That is Diane's seat."

"Who the hell are you?"

"David." Will sighed. "David Lee, family law, Dr Douglas Bates. He's a client David. And a friend of Diane's."

"Oh. Diane is sitting at the other table with Rhiannon. And Gloria Fairbanks. Lovely lovely woman."

"What are you talking about?" Douglas demanded, slamming his drink down on the table.

"Seriously, who the hell are you?" David asked as Douglas stood up.

 

"And the blue ones I take for my blood pressure." Gloria said lining up her pills on the table.

"Fascinating." Rhiannon nodded. She looked over at Diane wide eyed. "If I do all the pro bono cases from tonight can I go home?"

"No." Diane laughed.

"Sorry about that." Kurt said taking his seat. "That was the friend I asked to look into your murder weapon. It's so rare there are only three known owners in America. Two are out of state, but there was a collector in Chicago. An Aaron Rogers. He would have owned it around the time of Erik's death." He stopped when Diane suddenly paled. "Are you okay?"

"No." Diane said scanning the room for Douglas. Her stomach turning when she realized he was walking towards her. "I, um need to go get some air."

"Do you want me to go with you?" Rhiannon asked.

"No, no. Stay here. I just need a minute. I'll be okay." Diane said forcing a smile.

"Why did you switch tables?" Douglas asked as Diane walked past him. He picked up his pace to catch up with her. "Where are you going?"

Diane took a deep breath as the cool air hit her as she stepped out onto the balcony. Confident she could be seen by the other party goers she turned and faced Douglas. "You did it." She shocked herself when a sob escaped her lips. "You killed Erik."


	19. Chapter 19

****

"Why did you switch tables?" Douglas asked as Diane walked past him. He picked up his pace to catch up with her. "Where are you going?"

Diane took a deep breath as the cool air hit her as she stepped out onto the balcony. Confident she could be seen by the other party goers she turned and faced Douglas. "You did it." She shocked herself when a sob escaped her lips. "You killed Erik."

"What are you talking about?"

"The gun. Did you know how rare it was?" She shook her head. "Kurt traced it. It belonged to your grandfather."

"No." Douglas said shaking his head. "He's just saying that to break us up. He's got a thing for you. He's lying."

"Break us up? We're not together. The name meant nothing to him. I was the one that knew it was your Grandfather. You did it. Stop lying. After all this time just tell me the truth."

He slowly nodded his head. There was a calmness to him and frightened her.

"It was an accident."

"An accident?" Diane almost laughed. "How do you accidentally kill someone?"

"I just wanted to talk to him."

 

**1976**

Erik whistled to himself as he cut through the woods. He was in a great mood. He had always known eventually Diane needed to choose to be serious with him or Douglas. Or set them both loose. He had always assumed he didn't stand a chance. But she had seemed genuine, she was choosing him. He had even got the invite to meet the parents.

He heard a rustling behind him. He contemplated just moving forward, it was likely a raccoon. He reached into his pocket and sighed. He had cash on him. If it was one of the homeless people who had started frequenting the woods he would offer give them a little something to go buy a meal. He turned, his face falling when he realized it was Douglas behind him. "What do you want?"

"You need to stay away from her." Douglas said stepping closer to Erik. Despite the cool air he was visibly sweating. "Just ignore her. She'll call a few times but she'll get over it."

"Hey man, I get it. I'd be upset if she had dumped me too. She's great. But just go home man, you really don't want to start a fight. Go home, drink some beer. Go to one of those Sigma Delta whatever parties let them make you feel better. I don't care, just leave me alone and stay away from Diane."

"Or what?"

"Or what?" Erik repeated laughing slightly. Before he could continue a flash of metal caught his eye. "Do you have a gun?" He let out a laugh shaking his head. "Oh man."

"Don't laugh at me." Douglas said raising the gun.

"I'm not man. Let's put the gun away. I'll go home. You'll go home. Everything will be cool."

"And you'll stay away from Diane?"

"If that's what she asked me to do. Yeah, I would stay away from her."

 

**Present Day**

"And the gun just went off. It was an accident. But he kept smirking at me. I was being serious. He shouldn't have laughed at me."

"I'm going to be sick." Diane said grabbing onto the edge of the balcony to steady herself not sure how much longer her knees would support her. "Why? If it was an accident why did you just leave him there? How could you do that?"

"I couldn't risk my future over that." Douglas said as though it was the most obvious answer. "He didn't suffer. He died instantly."

"Dear god." Diane sighed.

"I took a life. I have lived with that for decades. It eats at me. It does. But the list of people I've been able to save. I've done remarkable things Diane. And I'm not done." He placed his hand on her arm, stepping back when she recoiled.

"So you really thought I was innocent?" Douglas said shaking his head slightly. "That stupid rant about not liking lace was sincere. You just didn't want to marry me. It had nothing to do with Erik. I've always wondered that."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Diane asked glaring at Douglas. Her hand still gripping the edge of the balcony, she glanced down, they were on the 12th floor, it was quite the drop. Trusting her legs more than her company on the balcony she slowly pushed herself away from the edge.

"Why do you think I came to you for help?" Douglas laughed. "It was really win/win for me. Either deep down you knew I was guilty and so you'd help me to save face."

"Save face?"

"Two men were fighting over you and one of them died. And you helped the other one get away with murder and were going to marry him. That is horrible PR."

Diane rolled her eyes slightly. "I could have handled it."

"Yeah. That's why I was betting on you really thinking I was innocent. It worked so well for me the first time. You stood by me , the cops stopped pestering me. We even got back together. Thought I would try going 2 for 2. But then you practically ignore me and dump that brat on me." He stopped and shook his head. "No. I should give her more credit than that. You've taught her well Diane. She's good, she's built quite the case for me. No, she's okay. The problem is her father. He's the one that messed everything up. These men, Diane. Why? Is it to hurt me? Or is this some long fought battle with your mother?"

"What? No, I can't talk about this. I need to get back inside. I can't be out here with you."

"Wait." Douglas said grabbing her wrist. "Don't go opening your mouth. You're my lawyer. Just make this go away once and for all. Erik's dead Diane, nothing you do will change that. Are you going to loose your firm and everything you dumped me for all over Erik Thompson?"

"Let go of me." Diane said through clenched teeth.

"Answer my damn question."

"I think she wants you to let go of her." Kurt said stepping into the light. "She asked you nicely, you don't want me to ask."

"Oh look Diane, your big tough boyfriend is trying to come to your rescue." Douglas said loosening his grasp on her arm. "Relax pal, we're just talking about the old days." He looked back at Diane and winked. "Right?" He smiled when she remained silent. "Alright. Enjoy your evening you two. I'm going to go back to my table. All those lawyers Eek. Maybe I'll see if confidentiality is more serious for lawyers than doctors. Fun topic! Goodnight."

"Are you okay?" Kurt asked as Douglas walked past him. He frowned when Diane just shook her head. "Come here." He said talking off his jacket. "You must be freezing." He placed his jacket over her shoulders and ran his hands up and down her arms. "Let me take you home."

Diane shook her head. "I can't go there."

"Okay." Kurt nodded. "My place?" He frowned when Diane went back to giving silent answers and just slowly nodded her head. "What the hell happened out here?"

She shook her head again, but reached out and grabbed his hand, smiling slightly. The smiled didn't reach her eyes which were full and he could sense she was trying not to break down. Kurt sighed and kissed the top of Diane's head. "Let's go."


	20. Chapter 20

Trying to keep his focus on the road Kurt glanced over at Diane in the passenger seat. She hadn't said a word since they left the hotel, was just staring out the window as he drove, slowly biting on her lip. He didn't want to push and ask again what had happened out on the balcony. She was being silent, but she hadn't pushed him away. He was sure she would talk when she was ready. He wouldn't press the matter. Instead he kept his focus on the road. After a few miles he reached out and squeezed her shoulder gently.

 

 

"Hey." Rhiannon said scanning the room for the tenth time. "Have you seen Diane or my Dad?"

"No." Will shrugged. "I'm sure they are around here somewhere though."

"I guess." Rhiannon sighed. "Diane got all pale and weird and went to talk to Douglas. My Dad went to check on them. That was about twenty minutes ago, I haven't seen any of them since."

"What do you mean pale and weird?"

"My Dad found the owner of the gun that killed Erik Thompson. Diane most have known the person, because as soon as she heard it the colour completely drained from her face. She looked like she'd seen a ghost. I've never seen her like that. Not even that time she had the flu but pretended she was fine."

"Okay." Will said standing up, the worry visible on his face. "Let's go look for them."

 

 

Diane walked into Kurt's living room on auto pilot. She was still wearing his suit jacket. She looked uncharacteristically small and frail. Kurt watched as she crossed the room and said down on the couch. He watched her for a moment before sitting down beside her. He took her hand in his, gently rubbing his thumb across the fresh bruise on her wrist.

"He did it." Diane said in a soft voice.

"I know. I saw him grab you. What happened?"

"No, I mean Erik's murder. It was Douglas, he killed him, and I am going to help him get away with it for a second time." She quickly brushed the tears from her cheek, willing herself not to start sobbing. "I really didn't know. All this time, I thought he was innocent. But when you said Aaron Rogers I knew. That was Douglas' grandfather. He lived with his grandparents." She let out a slight laugh. "He said it was an accident. How do you accidentally leave another person like that? For three days? It took three days to find him."

"I don't know." Kurt sighed. "That's what his little speech about confidentiality was about. You can't turn him in."

"No." Diane said shaking her head. "Well I could, but I would be disbarred." She ran her hand through her hair. "But how can I care about that? He killed someone I care about. I can't just let Erik's murderer get away with it because I want to keep my job."

Kurt smiled slightly when he realized she was looking at him, expecting an answer. "I think you're upset. And you shouldn't make any rash discussions until you have time to really think about it."

"So you don't think I should turn him in?" Diane asked listing her dress slightly so she could tuck her feet under her. "You will quit a job if you think someone is quietly."

"I think you'll drive yourself mad if you try to draw the line somewhere right now. You have had guilty clients before, you've done your job. Are those victims less important than someone you knew? Of course not. So whatever it is you tell yourself to stand up in court and do your job, belief in the system, whatever, you still need to believe in it now; even earn you know the parties involved."

"Hmmm." Diane nodded. She stretched her legs out and leaned back, resting her head on Kurt's arm. He eased his arm free and wrapped it around her shoulder, easing her closer to him. "This night did not go as I expected it to." She sighed resting her head on his chest. "It's my fault Erik is dead."

"No it's not." Kurt said firmly. "No matter what he said to you out on that balcony to justify what he did, it's not your fault. People break up all the time, especially in college. Most people cry or get drunk. They don't go out and kill people. You had nothing to do with Erik's death Diane. It is all on Douglas. He is the one who shot him and left him to die."

"I don't know what he's going to do now that I know the truth." Diane sighed, glancing down at the bruise on her wrist. "That's why I didn't want to go to my place. I never would have thought he'd hurt me, but I never thought he'd" A small sob threatened to escape as she let her sentence trail off.

"Hey, you can stay here as long as you want." Kurt said kissing the top of her head.

"What if he comes after you." Diane said moving to sit up, but Kurt placed his hand on her shoulder stopping her.

"I'll be fine." Kurt said chuckling slightly. "He didn't get away with this for forty years because he was stupid. He is not going to come here. And if he does I can handle it." He ran his hand along her arm. "You can stay here as long as you want. I know it's far out though. So I can stay with you in the city. Or you can stay with Rhiannon. I know she won't mind."

Before Diane could answer a loud piercing noise filled the room. She put her hands instinctively toward her ears and shot a questioning look at Kurt.

"My house alarm." Kurt yelled over the alarm and the barking that had joined in, courtesy of Hank, his hound. "Stay here. I'll check it out. It is probably the wind."

"Oh my god." Diane whispered the colour draining from her face. "Douglas followed us here."


	21. Chapter 21

"Holy crap this thing is annoying." Rhiannon said punching in the four digit pass-code in the control pad, disabling the alarm as quickly as she had set it off.

"What are you doing here?" Kurt sighed. "You practically gave Diane a heart attack."

"What am I doing here?" Rhiannon laughed. "What the hell are you two doing here? You just left without saying a word. And neither of you check your phones? I sent you both about twenty messages. What the hell is going on?" Before waiting for an answer she moved into the living room, stopping short when she saw Diane. "Whoa! You look like shit."

"Thanks." Diane said, surprised to find herself laugh slightly.

"So." Rhiannon said slowly. "Who wants to tell me what is going on?" She sat down on the love seat across from Diane and smiled. "Because I am not leaving until one of you do."

"Rhi." Kurt sighed.

"Nope." Rhiannon said shaking her head. "I gave you each twenty chances to reply to me and make up some stupid excuse. You missed the boat. So one of you spill."

Diane sighed. There was no need putting it off any longer. "Douglas was the one who killed Erik."

"Whoa." Rhiannon exhaled.

 

 

Rhiannon walked into her old bedroom and smiled, shaking her head slightly. Diane was sitting on her daybed wearing an old Smashing Pumpkins t-shirt and a pair of shorts. A sight she never expected. Her clothing options were limited though, it was that or an old prom dress.

"This room is very you." Diane smiled. The walls were a lilac colour and covered in posters, mostly of popular 90s bands. There was a noticeable Fleetwood Mac poster in the centre of the main wall.

Rhiannon followed Diane's line of vision and smiled. "When you are named after a song it gets sung to you a lot. You either embrace it or spent your life fighting it. They were my Mom's favourite band. I listened to _Rumours_ on repeat when she died." She shrugged. "But that is a story for another time. As much as the idea of having a slumber party in my old bedroom excites me, I only have a day bed and I don't want to sleep on the floor." A slow smile crept across her face. "Are you going to pretend you don't know where my Dad's bedroom is?"

Diane shook her head and smiled. "Thank you."

"For the clothes?" Rhiannon shrugged. "No biggie."

"I didn't meant the clothes."

"I know." Rhiannon smiled.

 

 

"Try to sleep." Kurt said rubbing his hand along Diane's arm.

"I love you." Diane said softly. She had of course been in love before, a few times, but she had never been the one to declare it first. And rarely had she been so sure so fast. But at that moment she was sure.

After everything that had happened that evening she felt safe and at peace in Kurt's arms. She had no idea what she was going to do in the morning or on Monday when she went back to work. But right then, at that moment, she did not care. She was going to enjoy feeling safe. She turned so she was facing Kurt, trying to read his face in the dark.

"You don't need to say anything. I just wanted to." She was quickly cut off by his kiss. Even if he didn't say anything she left loved. And that was enough, she thought smiling against his lips.

"You don't need to give me an out." He said, his voice barely above a whisper. "I love you too." And he did. He had dated in the years since his wife had died, even gotten quite close with a few women. But what he felt for Diane was different. Even though he hadn't known her that long, he knew she was different from anyone he had ever met before. They seemed to have a connection, he wasn't sure he could explain. And it was late, there was no point trying. "Go to sleep."


	22. Chapter 22

"What are you doing up?" Kurt asked as he and Diane walked into the kitchen. Rhiannon was sitting at the small table sipping her coffee. His eyes fell to the stack of books on the floor. "You've been up all night haven't you?"

"Maybe" Rhiannon said waving her hand. "I needed a plan. I was searching for a way to bust Douglas, but I couldn't find anything that wouldn't get me disbarred." She forced a curl behind her ear and tapped her notepad which was filled with scribbled notes and huge Xs. "But I came up with a plan. We just need him to bust himself. That way if criminal charges are brought against him and my brilliant defence gets him off, at least Erik's family will know what really happened. They can even sue him civilly, a' la OJ."

Diane nodded slowly. "Okay, but how are do you get him to bust himself?"

"His drinking. He has a big mouth when he's drunk. That is what has always seemed off to me. He confessed to Lauren Bates when he was drunk, that's what started this whole thing. I know he said he was going to AA, but he was drinking last night. So he just needs to get drunk and blab his little heart out. Or if he's serious about AA maybe he'll tell his sponsor or confess in group. Sure, he can argue religious organization, but that is iffy. Plus by then the the truth will already be out." She sighed and looked down at her coffee cup, frowning when she realized it was empty.

"Are you going to question every person he ever has a drink with on the off chance he confessed to murder?"

"No." Rhiannon said rolling her eyes. "Illinois is a one party state, we just need to record Dr Big Mouth."

"Okay." Kurt said. "That sounds some like great plotting. Why don't you get some sleep?"

"I'm not tired." Rhiannon shrugged. "I'm starving."

"Fine. Put your books away and I'll make breakfast."

"Whoa, deja vu." Rhiannon said gathering her things off the table. "You know it's not 1998 right?"

"And yet your crap is still all over my kitchen."

"I'm going. Calm down"

Diane tried not to laugh as she moved out of the doorway to let Rhiannon pass, shaking her her head slightly.

"What?" Kurt asked leaning against the counter.

"Nothing." Diane smiled. "I just like the way you two talk to each other. It's very endearing."

"It's how we've always been." Kurt shrugged. "There is a 80% chance she just laid down somewhere and passed out. She won't be back for a while, what would you like for breakfast?"

"Oh. I'm fine with just coffee."

"Rhiannon made the coffee. How am I a suppose to impress you with my cooking skills if you just drink her coffee?"

Diane laughed. "Whatever you make, I'll eat."

 

 

Diane stood in Rhiannon's doorway and tried not to laugh. Kurt had been right, from the way she was laying, Rhiannon had obviously passed out as soon as she was near her bed.

It was nice seeing how close Kurt was with his daughter. She rarely regretted her choice to not have children, she was happy with her life and her career. But sometimes it would be nice to have that bond with someone.

As much as she tried to stop it, her mind drifted back to Douglas. If they had gotten married, they likely would have had children. That was always his plan. She would need to explain to her children their father was a murderer.

Shaking her head, Diane grabbed the blanket off the floor and covered Rhiannon. There was no point worrying about fake problems when she had yet to decide what she was going to do about her real life ones.

"Thanks." Rhiannon mumbled, her eyes still closed. "Waffles."

 

 

"You were right." Diane smiled walking into the kitchen. "She is out cold."

"Side effect of having that much coffee fuelled energy." Kurt laughed. "I was betting on her being asleep, so I went for something more impressive than pancakes."

"Actually she was mumbling about waffles in her sleep." Diane laughed taking a seat at the table. She raised a brow as Kurt placed the plate of eggs benedict in front of her. "My, you weren't joking when you said you were trying to impress."

"What this? No big deal, just some homemade hollandaise sauce." Kurt grinned. "One of the many hidden talents in my wheelhouse."

"I'll bet." Diane said, laughing when Kurt just winked.

Diane closed her eyes for a second, just enjoying the moment. Monday she would have to go back to work and decide how to handle the Douglas situation. But at this moment she wasn't going to let it upset her. Instead was was going to lay on the couch, leaning against a man she had decided to love. No pro or con list, just throw caution to the wind and trust her feelings.

 

 

Hank, Kurt's grumpy hound was laying to the other side of her, considerably less grumpy as long as she continued to pet him. She was happy to oblige. _Duck Soup_ was playing. It had delighted her to find his Marx Brother's collection.

"You okay?" Kurt asked nudging her slightly with his shoulder.

"Yeah." Diane smiled. "Better than okay."

"Man, I love this movie." Rhiannon said walking into the room, trying to stifle a yawn. "I feel asleep."

"We noticed." Kurt said pausing the DVD.

"I was tired." Rhiannon shrugged. She handed Diane her phone. "You left this in my room. It was just ringing."

"Check your messages." Kurt said easing himself off the couch. "You hungry?"

"Starving. What did you make?"

"Eggs Benedict." Kurt laughed as Rhiannon scrunched her nose in disgust. "Want a grilled cheese?"

"Do you have the good processed cheese?"

"I have cheddar."

"As long as it's not 150 years old." Rhiannon shrugged as she sat down. "Did you know my mom was a chef?" She asked smiling when Diane nodded. "My palate would disgust her. And he won't even let me cook in his house. Which is such as over reaction. It's been a long time since I burnt anything."

Diane just laughed as she looked down at her phone. There were a number of messages from the night before, Will and Rhiannon asking where she was. There was a recent missed call from a number she did not recognize. She debated just ignoring it, but her curiosity won out and she quickly dialled her voicemail.

"Hello Diane. You didn't come home. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You're okay right? You're not out planning something crazy are you? I'll be in touch."

"What?" Rhiannon asked as Diane suddenly paled, her phone slipping from her hand, causing even Hank to look up in concern.

"It was Douglas. He knew I didn't go home last night."

"What?" Rhiannon repeated.

"He wanted to make sure I wasn't planning anything crazy." Diane said staring at her phone on the floor as though it was about to explode.

"Do you think he'll try to hurt you? Maybe you should stay here for a while. Or have my Dad come stay with you."

"No." Diane said shaking her head. "No, I'll be fine."

"Fine? He was watching your house and knows you didn't come home. Not to mention he knows you know he murdered someone. Have you ever watched a Lifetime movie? This does not end well for you when you go back to your house alone. Look, if you're worried I'll be weirded out, I'm really okay with you seeing my Dad."

"It's not that." Diane said picking up her phone. "There is just no need to over react."

"I've been saying that since she was about three." Kurt said walking back into the room. "Good luck with that." He laughed handing Rhiannon a plate. "What are you over reacting about now?"

"Oh you know, everything. Global warming seems pretty bad. Thanks for the sandwich I'm going to go get dressed."

"Okay." Kurt frowned. "Everything okay?"

"Peachy."


	23. Chapter 23

The drive from Kurt's to Diane's was mostly silent except for the music Rhiannon insisted on playing. When she pulled in front of Diane's townhouse she turned off the radio and signed. "Okay look, I know I said I was okay with you seeing my Dad, and I am, really, but I'm not okay with lying to him for you. So that can't be a thing we do. It won't work."

"I understand, I do."

"No." Rhiannon continued cutting Diane off. "It really won't work. I can't lie to my Dad. It's physically impossible. He never buys it. He always knows something is up and then I blab and tell him everything." She exhaled slowly. "And okay, you don't want to tell him Douglas left a creepy ass voice mail. Whatever. But don't be so stubborn you stay here alone. Go stay with James or come to my place."

Diane smiled. "You're sweet. But I'm fine. He's not going to hurt me."

"Really?" Rhiannon asked pointing to the bruise on Diane's wrist. "Are you sure about that?"

"I am going to go into my house, lock the door, turn on my alarm and go take the hottest shower possible. I'll be fine."

"Okay." Rhiannon sighed. "But call me if you change your mind."

 

 

Diane paced around her living room, phone in hand. She had never been a jumpy person, but every time the wind knocked a branch against her window she jumped. She honestly didn't believe Douglas would hurt her, but for forty years she had also thought he was not a murderer. Clearly her judgement was off when it came to him.

Sighing, she looked down at the phone in her hand and quickly dialled, trying to reassure herself she wasn't being paranoid. She tossed the phone onto her couch when she got voice-mail. She debated going to bed, which was ridiculous, it wasn't even 7pm.

She congratulated herself for not having a heart attack when the doorbell rang. She reached for her phone, if it was Douglas, she could call for help and leave the phone off the hook so the other line could hear everything he said. She had seen it in a movie before. She shook her head trying to shake some sense into herself as the doorbell rang again.

She eased herself towards the door, smiling when she saw Kurt through her peephole. "Hi." She said opening the door. "What are you doing here?"

"Your pilot light." Kurt said, a wave of confusion crossing his face. "I was really surprised Rhiannon couldn't get it lit herself."

"There is nothing wrong with my pilot light." Diane said as Kurt walked into the townhouse. "I don't have a gas oven."

"You don't."

"No." Diane said shaking her head.

"Okay." Kurt said running his hand over his beard. He smirked slightly. "I'm sorry, I'm slightly confused here. Rhi texted me and said your pilot light was out. If you wanted me to come over."

"I got a message from Douglas." Diane cut him off. "He knew I didn't come home last night. He said he hoped I wasn't doing anything stupid. I told Rhiannon it was no big deal." She ran her hand through her hair and sighed. "But I've been freaking myself out a bit."

"You didn't think it was a big deal that he threatened you; when you are one of the only people who know he has gotten away with murder for forty years? What exactly does it take for you to find something a big deal?"

Diane bite her thumb and shrugged. "I didn't want to overreact."

Kurt opened his mouth to speak, but remained silent. He could see she was scared, there was no point pressing the matter further. He nodded slowly. "Okay. Hungry?"

"What?"

"Are you hungry?" Kurt replied with a smile. "I thought your oven wasn't working remember? It was getting late so I stopped and got food."

"Yeah." Diane nodded, suddenly realizing she was starving.

"Okay. It's in my truck." Kurt said moving towards the door when Diane grabbed his hand.

"Thank you."

"Hey, you have to eat."

"That's not what I meant."

"I know." Kurt smiled. "I'll be right back."

Diane rolled her eyes. "Why can't you McVeighs just say you're welcome?"

 

 

"What are you doing?" Diane laughed walking into her bedroom. She stood at the foot of the bed motioning for him to move from her side of the bed.

"Just some light reading." Kurt laughed as he moved over. "You're bossy."

"Yep." Diane smiled getting into bed. She picked up the copy of _Hard Choices_ and shook her head. "Light reading. This thing is a weapon. I dropped it the other day, I could have broken my toe."

"Were you angry when she lied about Benghazi?"

"I walked right into that." Diane laughed. "Okay, Hillary is going away." She put the book back in her nightstand and eased herself under the covers.

"Tomorrow I'll go get some things so I can stay here for a while. My neighbor watches Hank and the place when I'm gone."

"You don't need to stay."

"And you don't need to tell me I don't need to do something every time I offer."

"Okay." Diane nodded. "Just don't feel like you need to stay because I freaked myself out. I know you don't like the city."

"But I like you." Kurt said nudging her with his shoulder.

She smiled slightly and looked down at her hands, twisting her arm to hide the bruise on her wrist. Kurt frowned as he watched her. He may not have known Diane long, but he did not know her to act so self conscious. He wasn't sure if this was a side effect of learning you almost married a murderer, or if she was so independent she didn't know how to ask for help. He nudged her again with his shoulder. "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah." Diane shrugged, still looking at her hands.

"Hmmm." Kurt nodded. "I meant it yesterday. I love you Diane. I wasn't just saying it. You should have figured out by now I don't say things I don't mean. This is your house, you should feel safe here. But if you don't want me to stay here, that's fine too."

"No." Diane said looking up. "I want you to stay. Please."

"Okay." Kurt nodded. "I'll stay for a few days, a few months. I'll stay till you kick me out."


	24. Chapter 24

"So what happened on Saturday?" Will grinned leaning back in his chair. "You and Kurt just disappeared."

"Yeah." Diane said running her hand through her hair. She debated just brushing it off, let Will just assume what happened. But there was no point. He would find out eventually. "Kurt got a call before dinner from a friend, a collector. The gun, it belonged to Douglas' grandfather. He killed Erik, he admitted it. I had to leave, I couldn't stay there."

"What?" Will said sitting up. He sighed, when Diane just nodded. "That bastard."

"Yeah."

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know." Diane sighed. "What can I do? If I report him to the police it will just be my word against his. He has a solid case for reasonable doubt. He'd get off and I'd be disbarred."

"That was his plan, wasn't it? He accidentally blabs to his friends what he did and freaks out. He comes to his old friend for help, so he can keep an eye on his case and if something triggers your memory you're bound by privilege."

"Or that I knew all along that it was him so I would be inclined to help him keep the secret longer. That's what he said anyway."

"I can't believe it." Will sighed. He tilted his head. "Hey, are you okay? If you want to take some time off, get out of town or something , go. I can handle things around here."

Diane smiled slightly. "That's not necessary. I'm fine, but thank you."

"If you change your mind"

"I'll let you know."

 

 

"Mr Cain will meet you at the courthouse at 1." Maxie said following Diane into her office. She placed a folder on the desk and frowned. "I thought she was just joking."

"What are you talking about?" Diane sighed.

"Miss McVeigh actually took your flowers. They came this morning. They were so pretty, roses. It was the nicest arrangement I've ever seen. Miss McVeigh didn't seem to like them though." She shook her head. 'I thought they were pretty."

 

 

"Hey." Rhiannon smiled when Diane knocked on her door. "I assume you're here to yell at me for tricking my Dad into coming over to your place." She leaned back in her chair and raised her hands. "Go for it."

"I'm not going to yell at you. Thank you for calling him. And if I made you think you had to lie to him I apologize. I shouldn't have done that, I'll try my best to never do it again."

"It's just never worked. He only believed me yesterday because I texted him. Oh, if texting had only been a thing when I was in high school." Rhiannon shook her head. "If you're not here to yell at me, what's up?"

"I don't know. Maxie was going on about you stealing my flowers. I didn't really know what she was talking about."

"You got flowers. I stole them. They are in there." She said pointing to her trash bin. "I should have just given them to her. She wouldn't stop gushing about them. It's like she's never seen a flower before."

"Okay?"

"Yeah."

Diane sighed. "Who were the flowers from and why did you throw them in the garbage?"

Rhiannon slid the card across her desk. "Don't worry, I'm taking care of it."

"Taking care of what?" Diane asked picking up the card, her face paling when she immediately recognized the handwriting.

**_I'm thinking of you, as much as you're thinking of me XO D_ **

"I'm taking care of it." Rhiannon repeated. "You can come stay at my apartment if you want. I have a doorman. And I know how to shoot people and make it look like an accident."

"Okay." Diane nodded still staring at the card in her hand. "Wait, what?"

"The last part was a joke. Kinda. I don't have a gun. But I do have a doorman, and a spare room. And if you'd feel better with a gun, I know a guy."

"No, it's okay. Your Dad is staying at my place for a few days. What do you mean you're taking care of it?"

"Just that I've got this. And that is probably all you really want to know." 

Diane studied Rhiannon's face looking for some sort of tell. She sighed when the younger girl just smiled. "Be careful."

"Always."

 

 

"Hello Lauren." Kalinda smiled. She knelt down and waved at the baby staring back at her from her carriage. "Cute kid."

"Do I know you?" Lauren Bates asked stepping between Kalinda and her daughter's carriage.

"No. But don't worry, I am here to help. I have some legal advise for you."

"Are you a lawyer?"

"No." Kalinda said shaking her head. "And because of that I can tell you that right now if you were to go to the police and tell them your husband is a murderer nothing would happen. On the off change they just to investigate, he's built a strong case of reasonable doubt. And since you couldn't testify against him, there is really no case, is there?"

"What do you mean? I would testify against him."

"Spousal privilege." Kalinda said. "Google it. While you're at it, see if Illinois allows people to secretly record people. Oh and red pandas. They are so cute." Kalinda smiled. "Have a nice day Lauren." She pulled out her phone as she started to walk away.

_Balls in her court._

 

 

Olivia laughed as Diane visibly jumped at the knock on her door. "Calm down, it's just me. When did you get so jumpy?"

"Sorry." Diane said with a forced smile. "What are you doing here?"

"Sold a house." She shrugged. "I was dropping off some paperwork, thought I'd come say hi. It's clearly a good thing I did. What the hell is going on?"

"Nothing." Diane sighed. "I was just concentrating I didn't hear you coming. I'm fine."

"Yeah sure. Try that on someone who hasn't known you more than half their life." Olivia tilted her head as Diane practically grimaced. "What's going on? Oh man, did something happen with Gun Guy?"

"What?" Diane frowned. "No. Well actually yes, but nothing bad. Things are going well, really well. I told him I love him."

"Shut up!" Olivia grinned. "Really? Is that why you're being all weird, love? Because that is so not you."

"I just have this case I can't talk about. Everything is fine."

"Sure, so back to Gun Guy."

"Kurt."

"Whatever. So you're all lovey dovey. Does this mean I can actually meet him? Thirty sections in a restaurant lobby doesn't count."

"Yes. I want you to meet him. He's actually staying at my place this week. We'll probably go to his place for the weekend, so maybe dinner on Friday?" Diane said pushing a lock of hair behind her ear. She frowned when Olivia just stared at her, wide-eyed. "What?"

"You're spending a lot of time with him huh?"

"I guess." Diane said still frowning. "What's wrong? Now you're acting weird."

"I just remembered I had a showing. I am late. I probably just blew a huge commission."

"Oh, okay. Go. I'l call you."

"Yeah yeah." Olivia said grabbing her purse. "I love you. You know that right? You can tell me anything. You've had more my back more than anyone in my life. I owe you."

"You are frightening me, but I love you too."

Olivia grinned. "Everything is going to be okay. I promise."


	25. Chapter 25

"What's up with Olivia?" Rhiannon asked walking into Diane's office. "Does she know?"

"No, I didn't tell her." Diane said taking off her glasses. "She just left saying she loved me and everything would be okay. I have no idea what she was talking about, but what else is new?"

"I said hi to her in the hall and she glared at me and said if I knew she would destroy me. I really hope I didn't know about whatever she's talking about. I believe her."

"She's not going to destroy you." Diane sighed.

"I'm not so sure. Whatever I did, I'm really sorry."

 

 

Olivia pounded on Diane's front door and rang the doorbell for the third time before pulling out her key and unlocking the door. "Hello?" She looked around and sighed. "Hello?"

"Hi." Kurt said coming through the back door with the dogs. "Diane is not here. She's still at work."

"I know that. But of course you know where she is. You seem to be spending a lot of time together. You're staying here all week, your place the weekend. It's not going to work Bud."

Kurt ran his hand over his beard, knowing from experience it was never a good idea to make a bad impression on the best friend. "What's not going to work?"

"This." Olivia said waving her hand. "I saw the bruise on her wrist. And she's suddenly a jumpy ball of nerves. That has never been her. If you think I'm going to just sit back and let you destroy her life you're an idiot and an asshole. And don't think for a second I care that you have a gun."

"It's not what you think."

"Oh really? What, was it her fault, did she make you do it? She should know better. God. I can't believe I actually supported this." She said slapping Kurt across the face.

Kurt stepped back, putting his hand on his cheek. Olivia was short, but she was feisty and had quite the slap. "I meant I didn't give her the bruise on her wrist."

"Right. Of course you wouldn't admit it."

Kurt smirked slightly, but quickly stepped back as this only seemed to anger her more. "You've known Diane a long time. Do you think for a second she'd stay with someone who beat her?"

"Before today, no." Olivia conceded. "But I saw her wrist. Those were finger marks. And suddenly you two are inseparable ."

"I had nothing to do with it. I assure you." Kurt said putting his hands up. "Look, ask her what happened. It was a client. That's why I'm here, why she's coming to my place over the weekend. In case he comes looking for her."

Olivia frowned slightly narrowing her eyes and studying Kurt. Slowly, she started to nod her head. Diane once complained about a date that held the door open for her too many times. There was no way she would let a boyfriend hit her and live. And Rhiannon was loud and in your face, which did not seem like the personality of someone with an abusive father.

"Okay." Olivia said still nodding. "But if you hurt her, I will ruin you."

This time Kurt didn't stop himself from smirking. "I don't doubt that for a second."

 

 

Diane entered her townhouse and paused in the foyer. The house smelt good. Something delicious was being prepared for her. Rather than being pleased Diane frowned as she bent down to pet Justice and Hank, who had created her at the door. Clearly they didn't find it odd that music was playing and there was a woman laughing in the kitchen.

Diane was confused, not jealous. She knew Kurt would not cheat on her, especially in her own house. She grew more confused as anther burst of laughter came from the kitchen. She knew that laugh well.

Moving past the dogs Diane dropped her coat and purse on the bench by her door and walked towards the kitchen to investigate.

"Hey, you're home!" Olivia said easing herself off the counter when Diane appeared in the doorway. "We're making supper."

"We?"

"Well he." Olivia laughed as Kurt waved. "I'm supervising and drinking your wine. Want a glass?"

"Sure." Diane said even more confused. "What are you doing here?"

"This is going to take a bit." Kurt said. "Why don't you two go enjoy your wine."

"What's going on?" Diane asked, her confusion starting to turn to annoyance.

"Oh, you know. I came over to beat the crap out of your boyfriend." Olivia said handing Diane a glass. "But then I changed my mind."

"Of course." Diane said looking over at Kurt who just winked at her. She scowled as Olivia wandered out of the kitchen, dancing to the music, but still not explaining what was going on.

"I didn't tell her what happened." Kurt said kissing the top of Diane's head. "Go talk to her. Be happy you have a friend that cares about you so much. I'll let you know when dinner is ready."

"Okay." Diane sighed, resisting the urge to start pouting. She walked towards her living room to find Olivia. "Why were you going to beat up Kurt?"

"Why do you think?"

"I honestly have no idea what is going on."

"Oh don't be grumpy." Olivia said waving her hand. 'It's your fault. You wave your bruised arm around in front of me with no explanation other than the fact you have suddenly become attached at the hip to a man. What else am I suppose to think?"

"What?" Diane said looking down at her arm. She had thought her blazer fully covered her bruise. She let out a laugh. "You thought Kurt beat me?" As it all sunk in, her annoyance gone, she started to laugh harder. "What exactly were you planning on doing to him?"

"I hadn't really thought that far." Olivia shrugged. She moved so she was resting on her knees, facing Diane. "He's really nice.

"I know."

"Don't get lame and all gushy."

"Shut up." Diane said rolling her eyes. "I really like him."

"Well you have my approval. And I'm not going to lie I was worried there for a bit, you would get all nostalgic and hook up with Douglas again."

"No!"

Olivia frowned as the look on her best friend face quickly darkened. "What's up?" Her jaw dropping as the proverbial lightbulb went off. "No! It was him, wasn't it? Of course it was. That ass. I'll kill him."

"No." Diane said quickly. "Stay away from him."

"Why, what happened?"

"Nothing. I didn't say it was him." Diane said pushing her hair behind her ear. "Just stay away from him. Please?"

"Yeah sure. I get it. You can't tell me what happened. But we both know it was him. So you stay away from him too."

"I plan to." Diane said willing herself not to start crying.

"Hey." Olivia said gently. "What happened? Screw the law. I'm not going to tell anyone. You know I can keep a secret."

Diane shook her head, exhaling slowly. "I know, but I really don't want to talk about it right now."

"Okay. I'll drop it. For now. But be careful." Olivia said adjusting in her legs. "Now let's talk about that man in your kitchen. That's all for show right?"

"What?"

"The cooking. He's just trying to impress me. The fancy chopping is just for show, this is going to taste awful?"

"No." Diane laughed, brushing her hand quickly across her cheek. "He can cook. His wife was a chef."

"His dead wife." Olivia sighed. "No naggy ex, he's good looking, he's nice, he can cook. Your skin looks fantastic so I assume he's good in bed. You should marry him. I would have if I met him two husbands ago."

Diane rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but laugh.


	26. Chapter 26

"Ready?" Kurt asked knocking on Diane's door.

"Hi." Diane smiled looking up from her computer "Ready for what?" Before Kurt could answer her phone started to ring. "Your daughter." Diane said looking at the ID. She gestured for Kurt to enter her office, as she answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Hi." Rhiannon said slightly out of breathe. "My Dad's already there isn't he?"

"He is."

"He's so punctual." Rhiannon sighed. "Anyway, I forgot to tell you, my Dad is coming to take you for lunch. Go with him and don't come back till I give you the all clear. I have your afternoon covered."

"What's going on?" Diane asked looking up at Kurt, who just shrugged. "What are you up to?"

"Nothing. Everything. I don't know. I'll fill you in later. Just hurry up and leave. Maybe take the stairs. I gotta go." Rhiannon said hanging up the phone.

"What is she doing?" Diane asked.

"Don't know the details, just she has a plan and she's being safe. I am suppose to take you for lunch and not come back until she says it's okay."

Diane shook her head, laughing slightly. "You realize I'm her boss and you're her father and she's telling us what to do?"

"That crossed my mind." Kurt said picking up Diane's coat. "But I'm used to it. I only assume she wants you gone because he is coming here. If that's the case, I don't really think it's a bad idea to leave."

"Yeah." Diane nodded. "Okay. Let's go."

 

 

"She's not here." Rhiannon said as she watched Douglas glance towards Diane's office. She smiled when he looked back at her. "Don't worry. I won't keep you long."

"You're not thinking of doing something stupid are you? I won't hesitate in getting you disbarred."

"I don't doubt that for a second." Rhiannon said as Will and Kalinda entered the conference room. "I just wanted to fill you in on the the progress of your case."

"Most of the credit goes to Rhiannon and Kalinda." Will said placing the thick folder on the table. "Should the police decide to re-open this case we have a solid case for reasonable doubt. Respected doctor, weak motive, possible suspects. I don't even see the police charging you."

"That's what I was hoping for." Douglas smiled. He looked over at Rhiannon. "You look like you have something to add."

"I do." Rhiannon grinned. "Thank you. Any criminal case against you, we have your back, but should civil charges be brought against you, we would not be representing you."

"A civil case? Who the hell is going to sue me?"

"I don't know. Erik had siblings, they might want to."

"And why would they want to do something like that, unless someone spoke to them."

"It wasn't me." Rhiannon smiled. "It was you. You really should have gone to through with AA Dr. Bates. You are really chatty when you drink."

"You met with your wife the other day for drinks." Kalinda said placing a tape recorder on the table. "And her sister."

Rhiannon smiled as the colour drained from Douglas's face. "You were there so you know what you said. Want us to press play?"

"You can have a copy if you want." Kalinda smiled. "We have more."

"You're bluffing."

"Is that a gamble you want to make?" Will asked. "After all these years."

"You can't do anything with that. You'll loose your license."

"Thanks, I went to law school. We're not going to do anything with the tape." Rhiannon said. "It was brought to our attention. As your lawyers we're required to bring it to your attention. So, attention brought."

They all looked up when there was a knock on the glass.

"What is he doing?" Will sighed. "I should go deal with that. If you have any further questions Dr. Bates, Rhiannon will be able to help you."

"Isn't that?"

"Colin Sweeney?" Rhiannon finished for him waving as Will stepped out of the room. "Yeah. He's a client. Loves Diane."

"I know what you're doing."

"I am, as your lawyer, updating you on your case Doctor. If you think I'm threatening to have Colin Sweeney come after you if something happens to Diane, well that's just plain offensive. To me and Mr Sweeney, he was acquitted of all murder charges."

"You're a bitch." Douglas grumbled standing up.

"And you're a murderer who abuses woman. We all have out character flaws." Rhiannon said as Kalinda kicked her under the table.

"Do you have any other questions Dr Bates?" Kalinda asked holding out the tape.

 

 

_"It's all done :)"_

"That's slightly ominous." Diane sighed putting her phone down. "What do you think she did?"

"I don't think I want to know. Sometimes when she gets something in her head it's best I am in the dark about the details. It's better for my blood pressure."

"Hmm."

"Hey." Kurt said nudging Diane slightly with his shoulder. "You okay?"

"I guess." She said forcing a smile. "It's been a weird couple of days. I've spent the majority of my life believing a knew the truth about a major event. I wasn't even close. I can't help but think about all the things I did that I shouldn't of. If it wasn't for me..."

"No." Kurt said shaking his head. "None of this is your fault. You can spend the rest of your life coming up with what ifs, but in the long run what is the point? All it will do is make you upset, it won't change the past."

"I know. I do." Diane said quietly looking at her hands. "But I can't stop. If I hadn't gotten him mad that night"

"It's not normal to not disagree with someone because they might get angry and kill someone." Kurt said gently. "The way I see it, you have two options. You can mourn for your friend and move on. Live your life, like I am sure he would want you to."

"And the other option?" Diane asked wiping a tear from her cheek.

"The other option, is let what happened almost forty years ago consume you for the rest of your life. Go over every detail. Obsess over things you can't change. Become another victim of Douglas."


	27. Chapter 27

"We'll recess for 45 minutes and reconvene at 1pm." Judge Abernathy said looking at his watch.

Diane grabbed her papers and frowned when she saw Will and Rhiannon standing in the back of the courtroom. A thick knot forming in her stomach she walked towards them. "What's wrong?"

"Not in here." Will said putting his arm on Diane's shoulder.

"This isn't frightening at all." Diane said following Rhiannon out into the hallway. "Will one of you please tell me what's going on?"

They all remained silent until they entered the small room assigned to Diane for the day. Will looked at Rhiannon and nodded as he shut the door. "Tell her. All of it."

"Douglas is dead." Rhiannon said. "An accident in his lab."

"Dead." Diane said exhaling slowly.

"All of it." Will sighed.

"There is a chance he might have killed himself." Rhiannon said shifting uncomfortably. "The accident was at 2am. He sent me an email at 1:30. All it said was 'You didn't win'"

"You didn't win? What does that mean?"

"I don't know." Rhiannon shrugged. "Kalinda said there was a print out of his latest procedure found in his lab. His death will probably get him that grant. He'll be remembered as an amazing doctor, be in textbooks, be a big hero."

"Why does that mean you didn't win?"

Rhiannon glanced over at Will who nodded. She exhaled slowly, refusing to make eye contact with Diane. "There might be a tape of Douglas confessing to killing Erik. I might have given it to him."

"Might have." Diane nodded. She looked over at Will and frowned. "There is more?"

"After I gave him the tape, I might have made it seem like if anything happened to you, ah, Colin Sweeney would, um _avenge_ you." Rhiannon said running her fingers through her curls, refusing to look at Diane.

"Did you know about this?" Diane asked narrowing her gaze at Will.

"I knew they got the tape."

"After we got it." Rhiannon clarified.

"And how did you get a tape of him confessing?" Diane asked turning back to Rhiannon, their eyes locking.

Rhiannon felt her stomach flip. Sure, Diane was upset and confused at the moment, but there was more to the look. She was disappointed. Will had seemed angry when she told him what had happened. That was easier to take. She suddenly felt ten years old again, gearing up to be grounded when her mother had just shook her head and said she was disappointed. It was such a cliche, but it really was worse. She bit the inside of her cheek slightly, trying to regain her composure. She wasn't a crier and this moment did not seem the time to become one.

"Kalinda told Lauren Bates that if she went to the police it would be her word against his. She wouldn't be able to testify. She didn't tell her to make the tape, she just pointed her in the right direction."

"And Colin Sweeney?"

"He was coming to see Will. He just knocked on the glass so Douglas saw him. Sweeney has no idea what was going on."

"Okay." Diane nodded. "Okay. Go back to work. I'll deal with this. Try not to join the mafia on your way back to the office."

Rhiannon thought about protesting, but thought better of it. "Okay." She said barely above a whisper she glanced over at Will who just nodded. She opened her mouth but quickly closed it, realizing there was nothing else to say. She nodded and left the room.

"You should go with her." Will said. "I'll cover for you after the recess." He put his hand up before Diane could say anything. "Go. Your head won't be in the game. I've got this. Take the day. And try to go easy on her. Her heart was in the right place. Hell, if I had been the one who thought of it first I would have done the same thing."

 

 

"You're still here."

"I came with Will, I don't have a car here. I'm waiting for a cab." Rhiannon said, unwilling to turn and look at Diane.

"Come on, I'll drive you." Diane said putting her hand on Rhiannon's shoulder, frowning when the younger woman seemed to flinch at her touch. "I'm sorry." She said softly when Rhiannon turned and dispute her efforts to hide it, Diane could see she had been crying.

"I'm fine." Rhiannon shrugged.

"You're lying. Come on."

"Whatever." Rhiannon mumbled.

"You're like a child." Diane said rolling her eyes. Rhiannon returned the eye roll but remained silent as she followed Diane to her car.

"Where are you going?" Rhiannon asked as Diane turned the opposite way from the firm, easing down a long road.

Diane remained silent until she puled the car over, turning off the ignition. "Tell me everything."

"What? I already told you everything."

"There is nothing else you need to tell me? Just me."

Rhiannon shook her head, her curls bouncing against her shoulder. A look of clarity crossed her eyes and her cheeks started to redden. "Did you just pull over to ask me if I had someone killed?"

"No!" Diane said quickly. "No. Just if there are anymore details I need to know about. Ones no one else needs to know. Even Will."

"No. I told you both everything."

"Good." Diane nodded. "I want to hear it. The tape. Do you have it?" She watched as Rhiannon glanced down at her purse. "Good. Play it."

"Right now?" Rhiannon questioned pulling the recorder out of her purse. She had assumed Diane would want to hear it, so she's thrown it in her bag earlier. She just thought she's want to listen to in private.

"Yes, I need to hear what is on there." Diane sighed, the stress of the past few days showing on her face. She needed to know what he had said, to know what had happened all those years ago. To know why Douglas may have killed himself. If she was going to move on from this, she needed to hear the tape.

Rhiannon looked at her once more for confirmation before pressing play and placing to recorder on the dash board.

_"I was surprised you wanted to see me." Douglas slurred. He had clearly had had a few drinks. "You kept me waiting so long, I thought you stood me up."_

_"I was surprised too." Lauren sighed. "But I wanted to talk about what you told me before about the football player who died."_

_"Why?"_

_"It was just a story right? You made it up. You didn't really hurt him."_

_"Does it matter?"_

_"It does to me. My lawyer told me it doesn't matter, you can tell me every detail and I can't do anything with it because we're married. But I need to know, for me."_

Rhiannon watched Diane cringe as Douglas' laughter filled the car.

_"Even with you here I can talk about it."_

_"Go ahead."_

"Who is that?" Diane asked

"Lauren's sister. Kalinda told her about third party and how it breaks spousal privilege."

_"You tell anyone and it's my word against yours. And I've made sure there is no case against me. My lawyer is a bitch, but she's good. Everyone will think you're trying to slander me to get more money. Hell, I could sue you. You'd owe me."_

_"I get it. It's just between you and me. What happened?"_

_"I killed the bastard. Shot him right in the heart. He tried to take away what was mine."_

"No." Diane said as Rhiannon reached for the recorder. "I want to hear it all."

_"He laughed at me. I pulled a gun on the guy and he laughs? Do you believe that. I wasn't going to hurt him. I just wanted to talk, tell him to back off. But then he laughed at me. Next thing I know he's slumping over. I don't even remember pulling the trigger. I've thought about that night a million times, I can never remember pulling the trigger. But I must have, one second he was laughing the next he was dead. But looks like I got the last laugh. I got away with it them and I'll get away with it now._

_"Is he the only person you've killed?"_

_"Of course! I'm not a bad person. One accident when I was young. I've saved so many lives. I'm a good person. She saw it, she'll see it."_

Rhiannon pressed stop and shrugged. "The pretty much just talk about custody for the rest of the tape. Gets boring."

"No they don't." Diane said with a sad smile. "But thank you."

"It's not your fault. I get that it'll take a while to realize that, but it's not your fault. It seems like it was just a horrible accident. He probably wasn't a bad guy back then."

"You need to get back to work." Diane said turning on her car.


	28. Chapter 28

"Where is she?"

"Who?" Rhiannon asked looking up from her computer to see James standing in her doorway.

"Don't play dumb, it's unbecoming on you. My sister, your boss Diane Lockhart." James said sitting down. "She's not in her office and that airhead who sits outside her office just said she's left for the day. You know where she is. You know details."

"You think Maxie's an airhead? I really like her. She's great." Rhiannon nodded her head as James just stared at her. "Right, not the point. I do not know where Diane is. I assume you heard about Douglas?"

"Yes. Spill."

"He died. The police are saying it was an accident in his lab. Diane found out and left for the day. I think she's with my Dad, but I don't know where."

"Ha!"

"What?"

"You know more, otherwise you wouldn't have said the police are saying it was an accident. You would just say it was an accident. It was something else wasn't it?"

"I don't know. I wasn't there."

"Was he murdered?" James practically whispered. "Is that why Diane's in hiding? Is whoever killed Erik coming after us know?"

Rhiannon just stared at James for a moment, slowly blinking, trying to determine if he was being serious. "No. I can guarantee whoever killed Erik cannot kill you or Diane. And she's just not here, she's not in hiding. Someone she knew died, she took a personal day."

"What the hell is going on?" Olivia demanded appearing in the doorway. "Where is Diane?"

"Why does everyone just assume I know where she is? She's my boss, she doesn't need to tell me where she goes."

"But you know where she is, don't you puppy?"

Rhiannon rolled her eyes. "No. She was in court, Will and I went and told her Douglas died. Will is covering for her and when we got back here she left. She didn't tell me where she was going and I didn't ask.

Douglas is dead. The police say it was an accident. I don't think there is a serial killer from the 70s coming to kill you all." She exhaled slowly. "That's all I got."

"A serial killer from the 70s? Who the hell would think that?"

James shrugged when Rhiannon pointed at him. "I was joking. But you never know."

"You're both insane." Olivia sighed. "The second you hear from Diane have her call me."

Rhiannon skipped the sarcastic response and just nodded. Something about the way Olivia was looking at her made it clear she knew more about what Douglas had done than James did.

 

 

"I'll wait here." Kurt said putting his truck in park. "Take as much time as you need." He reached over and gave Diane's hand a squeeze. "It'll make you feel better."

"Sure." Diane nodded. She gave Kurt a small smile before getting out of the truck.

She hadn't been to Erik's grave since his funeral, but as soon as Kurt entered the cemetery she knew exactly where to go. She took a deep breath and walked towards his marker. There were wilted flowers leaning against the stone, showing someone had visited not long before. She wasn't sure why, but knowing this made her happy.

"I'm not really sure what I am suppose to do." She said out loud. "I don't know that I believe you can hear me. But I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't want any of this to happen. If I had thought for a second he would have hurt you, I'd; I don't know what I would have done. This shouldn't have happened."

She looked up when she felt a drop on her hand, expecting to see dark clouds, not clear blue skies. She quickly realized she was crying. "I know what happened now. I wish I knew back them. If I helped him." Her voice trailed off as the tears got stronger.

Putting her hand across her stomach she stood beside Erik's grave and cried. For her friend, for the lies, for what might have been. She cried until the tears suddenly stopped and she was filled with an overwhelming sense of calm. She wasn't an overly spiritual person and was not sure she believed Erik was there releasing her from 40 years of pain and lies. But she did feel better. She took a deep breath and wiped away her tears trying to compose herself.

She was silent when she got back in the truck. Kurt reached across and again gave her hand a squeeze, but also remained silent.

"Thank you for making me come here." Diane said finally.

"Do you feel better?"

Diane smiled slightly. "Yeah. I'm suddenly starting to realize none of this was my fault. It is just something horrible that happened."

"When Avery died I replayed every possible scenario in my head that could have changed the outcome. What if I had made her go to the doctor earlier. What if we had gone to Mexico for some unapproved procedure. Or if I met her earlier and had talked her out of smoking in high school. But then I realized it didn't matter. None of those things had happened. I couldn't go change the past, I just had the present to deal with. And for me that included a fifteen year old without a mother."

"She was lucky to have you." Diane said resting her other hand on Kurt's. "So am I. Thank you for bringing me here."

Kurt shrugged. "I don't know that you need to visit a grave to talk to the dead, but I guess the symbolism helps. Even if it's just for the living."

 

 

"I didn't have much time." Kalinda said as she leaned against her car. "But my money is on suicide."

Rhiannon bit her lip and slowly nodded. "So what do we do?"

"We move on. You can't tell anyone what really happened, even with him dead. The police are treating this like an accident, and so will we."

"What if they find the email he sent me?"

Kalinda shrugged. "Tell the truth. You were his lawyer so you're unable to discuss your conversations. You didn't do anything wrong. You called out a murderer and he killed himself. That's not on you." Kalinda reached out and put her hand on Rhiannon's shoulder. "Go home and get stupid drunk, go talk to a priest, meditate, whatever. And then put this in the past and move on. You were just trying to protect Diane. If you let this eat at you his email was right. You didn't win. He's a bastard, win."

Rhiannon nodded. "Okay. I'll let it go."

"Sure." Kalinda said with a slight smile. "I have to go."

"Thanks." Rhiannon said moving so Kalinda could open her car door. "I'll see you later." She stood and watched Kalinda drive away. She had been right, she needed to move on.

Her breath caught in her throat when she turned and saw James standing beside a car a row back. "Are you following me?"

"Yes." James admitted easily. "The wording you used earlier, it was deliberate and cryptic. I knew something was up and I was right. Douglas killed Erik, and you found out."

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Right. I know you can't confirm it, but I just heard you. I heard Kalinda. Diane knows the truth too, doesn't she? Douglas threatened her that's why you needed to protect her."

"Like I said, I have no idea what you are talking about."

"I get it." James nodded. "You know nothing. But I know that asshole threatened my sister and you stopped him. So, thank you."

"There is no reason to thank me." Rhiannon said shoving a curl behind her ear. "I was just doing my job. And it appears one of my clients had an accident and died." She looked up to ensure she was looking James in the eye. "That I had nothing to do with."

"Kalinda said to go get stupid drunk. Sounds like a good idea. I'll buy the first round."


	29. Chapter 29

**1976**

"What on Earth did you do to your hair?"

"I cut it." Diane said proudly. "It was too long. I like it short."

"You couldn't have waited two days? Your hair needed to be up for the veil. Now what are we going to do?"

Diane bite her lip slightly trying not to laugh. If her mother was already this upset just from seeing her hair, the fact she had called off the wedding was going to make her nuts. But she had to tell her. She would even angrier if she showed up at the church on Saturday and no one was there.

"Well, I won't need my veil, so it's okay. I am not getting married on Saturday."

"Of course you are." Diane stepped back when her mother turned and started at her wide-eyed. "Oh no. You eloped didn't you. I can't believe you would do that to me. Do you really hate me that much?"

"I don't hate you." Diane frowned. "And I didn't elope. Douglas and I just decided getting married was a bad idea. James and Olivia are calling everyone. And I know you and Daddy have spent a lot of money. Whatever you can't get refunded, I'll pay back. I promise."

"Pay back? No. You're just being nervous. You're not thinking straight. Have your brother stop calling people."

"No." Diane sighed sitting down. "I don't just have cold feet. I don't want to marry Douglas. It's decided."

"I just don't understand."

"I know." Diane smiled gently. "It's nothing personal. I'm not trying to hurt or embarrass you. I just really don't want to get married."

"Is this because of Olivia?"

"What does she have to do with anything?" Diane asked as her mother raised her eyebrows. Before she could stop herself Diane let out a laugh. "I'm not a lesbian, mother."

"They were talking about them on the television the other night. Seems so trendy. You spend so much time with her."

"It's not because of Olivia. It's not because of you. It's all me. I just don't want to spend the rest of my life with Douglas. He's not what I want in a husband."

"What is? A promising doctor from a good home, impeccable breeding, if that is not want you want, what is?"

"Well I want a husband, not a show dog." Diane said rolling her eyes. "I don't care about breeding. And I don't know. I want someone who makes me laugh. Someone that understands that I might work late and be perfectly comfortable with me having a job other than his wife. Someone I can have a conversation with about something other than their work. Someone that makes me feel safe. Someone I like."

"And that's not Douglas?"

Diane shook her head. "Not even a little bit."

"Well it's a pretty tall order my dear. You'll need to refine your requirements or you'll never get married. You'll never have children."

"I know it's hard for you to believe, but that really wouldn't be the end of the world."

 

**Present Day**

Kurt smiled as Diane's laughter filled the room. Hank, however, grumbled as Kurt lifted the hand that had been scratching him to wrap his arm around Diane. "We should go somewhere." He said as Diane rested her head on his shoulder.

"Where?" Diane sighed contently. "I'm perfectly happy just sitting here."

"I didn't mean right now. And I don't know where. Away. Somewhere warm. I don't want to shovel wherever we go. I am over shovelling. Can you take time off? I know you're busy."

"I can take time off. A bit anyway."

"We'll go somewhere with cell reception. You can bring your lap top. It'll be like you never left."

Diane tilted her head so she was looking at Kurt. "I do know how to take a vacation you know."

"Do you?" Kurt laughed. "When was the last time you took one?"

"Will and I went to New York last year."

"For work?"

"Only the one day, but we stayed the whole weekend." Diane laughed. "Okay, that was a horrible example."

"You like your job." Kurt shrugged. "I get it."

"Yeah. But it'll be there when we get back. I could go for warmth." Before she could make a suggestion Hank's ears perked up and he started to growl. When the car door slammed he eased himself off the couch and started to bark.

"Wait here." Kurt frowned. He wasn't expecting anyone and it's not as though he lived in an area people just dropped in.

"Oh shut up Hank." Rhiannon said walking through the front door. "It's just me."

"Rhi?"

"Hey." Rhiannon said knocking the snow off her boots. She frowned slightly at the confusion on her father's face. "It's five o'clock, third Saturday of the month." She looked around Kurt and waved at Diane. "Hi." She smiled. "You're busy. It's cool, I'll go."

"No." Diane said. "Don't leave because I'm here."

"It's fine." Rhiannon said waving her hand. "You don't need me being the weird third wheel. I'll just go."

"It's snowing, it'll be miles before you find a paved road. You're not driving back to the city in that thing you call a car."

Rhiannon shot a look at Kurt who just grinned. "You heard her."

"It's really not fair you get to boss me around outside of work now." Rhiannon said taking off her coat.

"Life isn't fair kid." Diane shrugged. "What is five o'clock, third Saturday of the month?"

"Father/daughter movie night. And I don't know what's more upsetting, that I've been replaced, his only child, or that he might be senile and forgotten."

"I don't think the roads are really that bad if you want to reschedule." Kurt said looking out the window.

"Ouch." Rhiannon said placing her hand over her heart. "I was replaced. I knew this day would come." She entered the living room and sat on the love seat, patting the seat next to her urging Hank to come sit with her. "It's just me and the pooch."

"So how to you pick the movie?' Diane asked.

"Alphabet. We are at J and we each get a pick. So naturally my pick is Julie Andrews." Rhiannon said pulling a DVD out of her purse. " _Victor/Victoria_!"

"I love that movie." Diane smiled as Kurt groaned.

"And since I figured you'd go with a musical, I went with _True Grit_."

"Oh, with Jeff Bridges." Diane nodded. "J."

"No." Kurt said quickly, as Rhiannon started to laugh. He shook his head, and sighed. "John Wayne."

"You should really study up on The Duke." Rhiannon said still laughing. "I can give you a crash course. He made about a million movies and talked really slow in them. He wore a toupee and his real name is Marion."

"And he was the greatest actor this country has ever seen." Kurt said as Rhiannon rolled her eyes.

As the credits rolled on _True Grit_ , Diane looked around the room and realized she was the only one that had stayed awake for the entire movie. Easing her legs off Kurt's lap she got up and turned off the television. She looked over at Rhiannon and laughed under her breathe. She seemed quite comfortable, Diane only assumed falling asleep on the couch was a regular occurrence.

She grabbed a blanket off the the top of the couch and quickly covered Rhiannon. She moved back to Kurt's couch and nudged his leg slightly with her knee. He did not look as comfortable as his daughter, and Diane assumed if he stayed there all night he wouldn't be able to move his neck for a week.

"Hey." She smiled when he slowly opened his eyes. "You feel asleep."

"No." Kurt sighed running his hand along his beard. "I was awake. I was just resting my eyes."

"Sure." Diane chuckled. She reached for his hand. "Want to come rest your eyes in bed?"

"Yeah. I have to lock up, I'll meet you up there."

"Okay." Diane nodded, but she didn't move. She looked around the room, slowly running a lock of hair through her fingers, a slow smile spreading across her face.

"What?"

"Nothing." Diane shrugged, still smiling. "I liked tonight. I like you."

"Good."Kurt nodded. "I like you too."

 

 

The End


End file.
